Richard Marking

Richard Marking was found injured in the empty carriage of a Brighton to London train on Wednesday 20 August 1952 and was taken to hospital where he died on Thursday 21 August 1952.

He was found dying from head wounds when the train arrived, and the police said that they thought that he had leaned out of a carriage window and had been struck by a bridge.

However, it was later claimed that his death was not accidental. It was associated with the death of Philip John Little who fell from a train.

Richard Marking and Philip Little were said to have both been police informers and to have been known to Scotland Yard's 'Ghost Squad' which worked secretly among crooks and their associates. It was said that they had both supplied the police with news of burglaries and given information to them about receivers of stolen goods. It was also said that one of them had helped the police with their inquiries into the great mailbag robbery in May 1952.

It was said that the wallet found on one of the men listed the private telephone numbers of police chiefs at Scotland Yard and in Sussex.

Richard Marking was a former assistant ballroom manager at a West End hotel and had lived in Weir Road in Balham, London.

After his death the police later received anonymous messages suggesting that Philip Little and Richard Marking had been murdered in revenge because they had helped the police. It was said that a woman called the police and said, 'Don't believe in the accident idea. They were killed'. It was said that after the woman called the police that they re-opened their investigations.

His inquest heard that the Railway Police found a six-inch smear of blood with hair adhering to it at the side of the Patcham Tunnel and a verdict of accidental death was returned.

The coroner told the jury to ignore reports that had appeared in certain London newspapers which he said had caused great distress to his relations. He was first said to have described Richard Marking's death as extraordinary and with features that he said needed special investigation but later said that the investigation showed that he had died accidentally.