George Mitchell

George Mitchell died following a fight at a pub.

At the inquest, the coroner said, 'There is evidence to show that Mitchell had a series of falls, but it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty which of them caused the injuries from which he died'.

The doctor also gave evidence at the inquest, stating that there was insufficient evidence to show how the injuries that caused George Mitchell's death were caused.

He was a general labourer and had lived in Darling Street off North Street.

It was said that George Mitchell had been drinking in the Corporation Hotel and had thrown a spittoon at a mirror, breaking it. The splinters from the mirror had fallen on a man who had been playing dominos there. After breaking the mirror, George Mitchell admitted having thrown the spittoon, and asked the man, 'What are you going to do about it?'. He then invited the man out, but it was said that the man tried to pacify him and that George Mitchell then struck out, but missed and fell on his side. He was said to have been down for about 30 seconds.

It was said that the man was still trying to persuade George Mitchell that he didn't want to fight him but that George Mitchell then hit the man in the forehead and that the man then pushed George Mitchell away with both hands and that he then seemed to fall and hit the back of his head on the pavement.

George Mitchell's daughter said that she then took her father home, saying that he was in a terrible condition, having a gash under his chin and the back of his head bleeding. She added that he also had his thumbs split. He was also helped home by two men.

His wife said that when he got home on the Saturday night, he was unconscious and that he was told that two young men had knocked him out. However, she said that she had no idea who the two men were. She said that she was told that he had been 'laid out' in Camp Road near the 'Jew's Park'.

She said that he had a cut to the back of his head and another under his chin and said that when he tried to get up on the Sunday morning he fell and she called for a doctor.

When the doctor arrived, he said that George Mitchell was suffering from slight concussion and that he thought that the nerves of his jaw had been paralysed.

He was later taken to the General Infirmary but died half-an-hour after admission. His death was said to have been due to contusion and laceration of the brain associated with three fractures, including one at the base of the skull.

The doctors said that his injuries were consistent with having been caused by a fall on the back of the head.

At the conclusion of his inquest on Monday 1 July 1946 an open verdict was returned.