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Man

Age: unknown

Sex: male

Date: 12 Jul 1961

Place: 26 Legge Street, Gosta Green, Birmingham, West Midlands

The body of a mummified man was found in a derelict house at 26 Legge Street, Gosta Green, Birmingham on 12 July 1961.

An open verdict was returned after witnesses at the inquest who claimed to have known the man gave conflicting and confusing evidence. One of the witnesses had claimed that the body was that of his brother but the Coroner said that he was not prepared to say that on the evidence that it was.

The post mortem failed to establish his cause of death.

The police said that they found a paper that had been issued by the Birmingham Magistrates on the body showing that a certain man had been conditionally discharged for drunkenness on 3 January. However, the name was different to that of the man that had claim the body to have been his brother had had although both were said to have come from Roscommon.

It was further noted that a policeman said that he recognised the body as that of a man that he had arrested on 2 January for drunkenness, the name of whom matched that of the name in the magistrates paper, stating that the man had said that he had come from Roscommon in Eire. The policeman added that the man had been in the habit of sleeping in derelict property in the city.

The police said that foul play could be ruled out as far as they could tell, stating that it looked as though it had been the body of a tramp that had gone in to the house to sleep.

The man that had claimed to have been the man's brother had lived in Elm Tree Avenue, Coventry. He said that his brother had come to the Midlands seven or eight years earlier and that the last time that he saw him was 18 months earlier at which time he had been sleeping rough.

Further evidence was heard regarding another man with the same name who had left a letter to his parents at a Birmingham lodging house in 1951 and the Coroner said that there appeared to be at least two men answering the same name and fitting the description of the dead man.

After the evidence was heard the Coroner said, 'I shall just have to bring in an open verdict that an unknown man was found dead at a derelict house in Legge Street and the cause of death was unknown'.

When the Coroner addressed the man from Coventry he said, 'You have heard the problems we are faced with. I am not prepared to say on the evidence that it was your brother. I don't think anyone could have successfully identified the body. It may be your brother, we shall never know. I am not prepared to give a name to this body'.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Birmingham Daily Post - Friday 04 August 1961

see Birmingham Daily Post - Friday 04 August 1961

see Birmingham Daily Post - Friday 04 August 1961