Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

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uncle mick
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Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by uncle mick »

Tony Goode a ex policeman passed away last November any connection ??

https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/goode/4994172

iansmithofotley
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Joined: Fri 28 Dec, 2007 4:10 pm

Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by iansmithofotley »

Hi uncle mick,

No - it's the wrong person, it's just a coincidence with names.

Ian

jma
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Joined: Fri 05 Aug, 2016 3:38 pm

Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by jma »

I can confirm that this is a different Tony Goode, but a contemporary of the one Ian and I discussed.

Nothing really to do with this topic, but here's a report of one of the "other" Tony Goode's cases, when he was a chief superintendent in Humberside in 1991.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hi ... ul-5256575

iansmithofotley
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Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by iansmithofotley »

This is another update on the John Riley murder at Oakwood, Leeds on 27/28th (Fri/Sat) October 1978.

I have made further enquiries and sort information from former colleagues about the murder. I also spent another fruitless afternoon at the Leeds Reference Library searching through the 1979 editions of the Yorkshire Evening Post and Yorkshire Post for any information about the trial, the motives for the murder and details of the sentencing.

I found that the two suspects were Colin Stuart Huckerby and Mark Gerrard Grasby. I do not know exactly when, where or how they came to be arrested but their apprehension was very quick (within 24 hours).

Paul Briggs (deceased) was the Detective Inspector at Chapeltown Police Station at the time of the murder and it is probably the reason for him charging the suspects. I was unable to identify any other investigating officers.

The motive for the murder was very likely a case of homophobia, or as it was called in those days ‘Queer Bashing’.

The Oakwood toilets were situated about 50 yards from Oakwood Clock. Apparently Oakwood Clock was a meeting point for the youth of the day to congregate as it was a focal point and had seating all around the clock tower. Huckerby and Grasby were aged 20 years and 21 years in 1978 and I thought, personally, that they were a bit old to be congregating with youths. As previously mentioned, I have no idea why John Riley went to Oakwood toilets after a nights drinking in the Nag’s Head Pub at Chapel Allerton and I have no idea about the confrontation with the suspects.

Apparently, Huckerby was well known in the Chapel Allerton area, having attended Chapeltown (now Chapel Allerton) Primary School and Roundhay High School and he was the stronger character of the two suspects.

I sent off for information and details of the Leeds Crown Court convictions from the Coroner’s Office, the National Archives, the West Yorkshire Archives and the West Yorkshire Police. I also did a lot of research on the local Facebook sites.

As I mentioned, weeks ago, when there was a query over the death being registered twice - in October 1978 and July 1979, I thought that it was likely that the second registration followed a criminal trial.

Because most records have been destroyed or are unavailable, the most useful information that I got was from the Coroner’s Office. It stated that one person was convicted of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment and the other person was convicted of manslaughter and received 6 years imprisonment. The Coroner’s Office could not provide me with any names. I was told that the conviction date would probably have been in July 1979 but this has not been confirmed (I think that it could possibly have been in late June).

I have spoken to former colleagues and I learned that both defendants were to plead ‘not guilty’ to the murder charge at Crown Court. I also learned that there must have been some ‘plea bargaining’ going on during the trial and, in the end, Grasby gave evidence against Huckerby, and his plea to manslaughter was accepted. Therefore, Huckerby got the life imprisonment sentence for murder and Grasby got the 6 years imprisonment sentence for manslaughter.

As mentioned, I have tried to verify this information by searching the newspapers but, to date, without success. I might try again in the future but it is soul destroying and very time consuming using the ’slow’ equipment at the Reference Library (I have considered trying the British Library at Boston Spa).

Because the murder involved local people - the deceased and the suspects, and was detected very quickly, details may not have appeared in the National Press but only in the local newspapers on 28th (Sat) and 30th (Mon) October 1978, as previously mentioned. Again, I am surprised that details of the trial and convictions, around July 1979, do not appear to have been mentioned in the National Press because of the seriousness and nature of the case.

At that time, I knew two elderly brothers who were Crime Reporters for the Yorkshire Evening Post and the Yorkshire Post called Billy and Tony Hunter. I knew them quite well professionally and socially and I would be very surprised if they had not reported on the murder trial as they spent much of their time sitting in on cases at Leeds Magistrates and Leeds Crown Courts.

As far as I am aware, both Huckerby and Grasby still live locally, one in North Leeds and one not far away in North Yorkshire.

This topic was raised on Secret Leeds before, in 2015, and there are some photographs of the area and the toilets:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5646

JamesO
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Joined: Tue 15 Jul, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by JamesO »

I am a local resident and historian of Roundhay and Oakwood. I used to have a few newspaper clippings related to this murder but frustratingly they were lost in a house move. I have been to the local history library today to pull up newspaper archives from late June of 1979 to try and find a front page Evening Post article about a Crown Court trial for murder that I vaguely remembered.

Now.. to agree with the point raised.. the 'new' equipment for looking at microfilm at Central Library is rubbish and only allows about 1 page per 10 seconds to be viewed but I managed to persuade them to let me on an older machine and eventually found the article I had in mind.

(As an aside.. I don't think there was a 'cover up' as such but from browsing the archives this afternoon I can see that there were a surprising amount of similar violent murders in Leeds at this time (including the Yorkshire Ripper) so it may have failed to be notable nationally. )

(EDIT 21/8/2022: I have removed the full text of the article as it's been suggested it could fall foul of copyright being quite recent but see below for a summary based on this and other articles)

YEP 15th June 1979 Front page "..COURT TOLD OF LEEDS POETS 'VIOLENT DEATH'.."

I will return to the library tomorrow to do more digging and see if there were any further arguments put forth. I suppose there must be more articles between this date and sentencing.
Last edited by JamesO on Sun 21 Aug, 2022 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

JamesO
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Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by JamesO »

I have been back today and uncovered some more articles regarding this murder.

Rather than type everything out in full I will give a summary of the events as I understand them after reading several reports. (The reports are sometimes contradictory but I have done my best.)

John Riley is said to have gone out on the night of October 27th 1978 to the Nag's Head pub in Chapel Allerton where he was a regular. After playing dominoes and drinking about six pints of beer he told a friend that he was going for a walk in the woods before going home. The time he left the Nag's Head is stated to be 11 o'clock.

Grasby and Huckerby spent the evening drinking with three friends and were dropped off at Oakwood to get fish and chips (I'm not sure what time that was but I would imagine the fish and chip shop closed earlier than the time the murder took place?) Grasby went inside the toilets and Huckerby waited outside.

A witness in one of the toilet cubicles reported hearing someone come in and make a lot of noise and looked out to see that Riley was out there and also a young man. It is said both Riley and Grasby exited the toilet block about the same time. Grasby is alleged to have told Huckerby that there was a homosexual inside (seemingly based on the toilets having a reputation as a meeting place and Riley having been alleged to smile at Grasby when he came in)

Grasby is alleged to have "lost his temper" and "lashed out" hitting Riley about five times in the face and "booting him." Huckerby, it is said, also took part by hitting and kicking Riley. The two men decided to move Riley around the back of the toilet block and leave him there but it's said that once they got him there they "seemed to lose their tempers" and kicked Mr Riley again. It was suggested by the men that when they left the scene they believed he wasn't very badly injured. Riley's wallet containing £13 was stolen but discarded in a nearby bin.

The trial appears to have run for about a week and was reported on starting from the 15th June 1979. During the trial it is revealed that items of clothing owned by both men were found in Harrogate - Huckerby's pullover in the grounds of the Majestic Hotel and Grasby's boots near St Peter's. Mr Riley is revealed to have recieved facial fractures in the attack and died due to inhalation of blood.

Grasby is reported to have been given a life sentence for murder and Huckerby six years for manslaughter. Mr Harry Ognall QC (defending) said that Huckerby "was not the prime mover" and "the jury's verdict indicated that at no time did he intend serious injury."

iansmithofotley
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Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by iansmithofotley »

Thank you for your comments, it must have taken a lot of time and effort to find that information at the Library. You did better than I did and I spent two afternoons there (on the very slow 'new' equipment). So far as relates to the convictions and prison sentences, it seems that I was given some wrong information as the convictions and prison sentences, actually imposed, were the other way round. Well done anyway, I think that this thread has just about been exhausted.

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blackprince
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Re: Murder of Leeds Poet 1978

Post by blackprince »

Yes, thanks to both JamesO and Ian for filling in the "missing" details about this awful crime.
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

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