Hi j.c.d.,
When I worked at Upper Wortley Pol. Stn. In 1965/67, we had regular problems, particularly at weekends, with gypsies fighting amongst themselves (and others) at the bottom of Tong Road. The pubs involved were mainly the Beech, the Crown and occasionally the City. At that time, many of the ‘gypsies’ (or ‘Travellers’) had moved into houses in the Avenues (First to Eighteenth), near the pubs, and also the Danubes off Gelderd Road. The ones that lived in the Danubes tended to use the Cattle Market and Smyth’s Arms but they would often walk along Copley Hill and visit their friends in the Beech and the Crown.
Also, at this time, the dedicated ‘Traveller’s Site’ at Cottingley Springs off Gelderd Road (which was not very far away) was just starting to get established, so travellers from there would also turn up.
The main man at the time, and self proclaimed ‘King of the Gypsies’, was Thomas O’Docherty who was often involved in incidents and was often locked up for drunkenness offences or committing a Breach of the Peace. In later years, he managed to reform himself, somewhat, and I think that he was involved with the development of the Gypsy Council.
This is an interesting site for further information:
http://www.grtleeds.co.uk/ourService/tommyStory.html
(Although, he is referred to as Docherty on the site, I always knew him as O’Docherty.)
On Saturday 17th March 1973, it was St Patrick’s Day. I was a uniform sergeant at Dewsbury Road Pol. Stn. and was working nights. I was on patrol in a Police Van, with a colleague, when around 11pm, the Police Control Room started to get numerous calls from members of the public that a man was lying in the middle of the road in Beeston Road and traffic was driving around him. A nearby P.C., on foot patrol, was sent to investigate and found a man incapably drunk lying in the middle of the road. There were no other pedestrians around at that time.
The officer dragged the man to the side of the road and arrested him for being drunk and incapable and for his own safety. He called for our van for transport to the Bridewell at Leeds Town Hall. We carried the man into the van and he died on the way to the Bridewell. We took him to the L.G.I. and a doctor confirmed that he was dead so we had to take him to the public mortuary in Mill Street (as he had not died in the L.G.I.).
Because he had died in Police Custody and the surrounding circumstances of the death, there had to be an inquest. It transpired that he had been drinking all day, since 11am, in the Coach and Horses and the Golden Lion in Beeston Road, celebrating St Patrick’s Day. He had drunk so much that the alcohol content in his body was so high that some of his essential organs were incapable of functioning and he choked to death on his own vomit. He was an Irishman who had been drinking all day with travellers and gypsies and also some of his family members.
I remember that when we drove past the Coach and Horses, towards Elland Road, a bunch of drunks staggered out of the pub and stood in the road, infront of us, and flagged us down. Somehow, they were aware of the arrest of the man and tried to persuade us to release him, which we obviously didn’t. The drunken man was incapable of looking after himself and the bunch of drunks were also incapable of looking after him as, although they were still standing, they were all very, very, drunk themselves. In any case, he had been arrested.
It was a very sad case but these things happen in policing and you just had to get on with the job.
Ian