Forest Gate, and Victorian Penny Dreadfuls (1)

The Illustrated Police News was a strange, weekly, newspaper, which lasted from 1867 until 1938, and for a while was described as "the worst newspaper in England". It was nothing to do with the police, officially, instead, it almost epitomised the Victorian "Penny Dreadful", providing lurid copy to a readership with a thirst for scandal and the salacious. 

Despite its title, it never produced a photograph, but relied entirely on graphic and sensational sketches for its illustrations. Equally, regardless of its claim to cover crime and punishment, it was more interested in quoting lurid witness statements at trials and from police interviews, than informing readers of the outcomes of those trials.

Forest Gate crime featured over 100 times during its 70 years of publication, and in 10 cases the crime was spicy enough to merit an illustration.

Divided, chronologically, over two articles, we look at those cases, reproduce the illustrations and provide quotes from the supporting commentary. By modern standards, far from being "Racy" much of the coverage seems rather quaint - perhaps an illustration of how "tame" Victorian tastes for gore were, compared to those of the modern era.

But first, a rather lengthy description of the IPN from the people who should know more than anyone else - the publishers of the British Newspaper Archive. We are grateful to them for the entire contents of this article.

Details of how to access and subscribe to the archive can be found in the footnote to this article.

British Newspaper Archive description

The British Newspaper Archive is packed with weird and wonderful stories of every description. However, of all the historic titles in this collection, no publication reported the bizarre and shocking in quite the same way as the Illustrated Police News.

A typical front page of the
 Illustrated Police News

The Illustrated Police News was one of Britain’s very first tabloids and one of the first periodicals to tap into the British public’s morbid appetite for crime and sensation. The paper was founded in 1843 and was partly inspired by the success of The Illustrated London News.  It was originally priced at one penny and did remarkably well with a weekly circulation of around 175,000 copies, most sold in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

Gruesome and grisly news stories from around the UK

The Illustrated Police News reporters would scour through vast quantities of newsprint from across the Empire, Europe and the United States in order to bring their readers news of the latest assaults, outrages, tragedies and murders. All of which were delightfully described in lurid detail with vivid illustrations to match.

It was considered a workingman’s newspaper and was frequently condemned for appealing to lowbrow tastes yet it was not the stories printed that attracted the most criticism, it was the lewd and graphic illustrations of blood spurting from wounds, women’s faces twisted in terror as they were attacked by cruel husbands and hosts of scantily clad sleepwalkers who always happened to be attractive young ladies.

In fact, an 1886 article found in our (The British Newspaper Archive) collection of historic newspapers reveals that The Illustrated Police News was once voted the ‘worst newspaper in England’ by readers of the Pall Mall Gazette.

 The proprietor, George Purkis claimed to have half a dozen accomplished artists on his permanent staff in London and somewhere between 70 and 100 free-lance artists spread out across the country who provided “the best portraits published by any journal, not excluding The Illustrated London News and The Graphic“.

Accuracy was of high importance and Purkis described how artists would be deployed to the scene of “terrible murder or extraordinary incident” the second news reached the London office.
Purkis appeared unfazed at being voted the worst newspaper in England and “received the verdict of the jury with great good temper, not to say complacency” and answered the complaints made against him.

Chief amongst these was that The Illustrated Police News was “a bad paper, which encourages the commission of crime, and generally tends to the demoralization of the people into whose hands it falls.”
"I acknowledge it to be a sensational newspaper," said Mr Purkis, but he insisted that: "barring the sensational illustrations, there is nothing in the paper to which objection can reasonably be taken."

He argued that rather than glorifying crime, his paper prevented it by warning of its horrors and terrible consequences. He even argues his paper may act "as an encouragement to a good life" and explained how criminals would go to great lengths to prevent their likeness appearing in its pages.

“I know what people say,” concluded Mr. Purkis, ‘but as I replied to a friend who asked me why I did not produce some other paper than the Police News, ‘We can’t all have Timeses and Telegraphs, and if we can’t have the Telegraph or the Times, we must put up with the Police News.'”

 Purkis died of tuberculosis in 1892 but The IPN continued reporting on the strange and grotesque until 1938.

Forest Gate reports 

1. Burglar caught in Forest Gate - 9 September 1882

Henry James Brady was charged with:

Burglariously breaking and entering Lawn House, Sidney Road, Forest Gate and stealing a copper coal scuttle and scoop and a tea caddy and canister.

The occupant was disturbed during the night and called the police who: 

Not knowing how many other persons were behind the door, put his left hand through the partly opened door and with his truncheon struck the man on the head, when he fell to the ground. ... The prisoners hands were tied with a rope.

The illustration from 9 September 1882 edition

Brady was taken to the police station and charged, but having got some tasty morsels of scene of crime activity, the Illustrated Police News lost interest and did not report the outcome of the incident.

2. Attempted murder of a sweetheart - 26 January 1884

On Tuesday night at Forest Lane, Forest Gate a young (21 years) fellow named Reginald Slaughter, living at Channelsea Road Stratford fire two shots out of a five-chambered revolver at a young lady named (Kitty) Pole (20 years) and then a chamber at himself.

The parties, it seems, had been keeping company for about three months, but have had significant quarrels now and again and it is stated that Slaughter had threatened Miss Pole.

The incident took place at 9.30 pm in Albert Square, Forest Lane.

After Slaughter had fired the first two shots, The Illustrated Police News reported: 

(Miss Pole) was not struck, but fell into a fit of hysterics ... Slaughter pointed the revolver at himself, but the bullet went into the air, and just as he was about to fire again, a gentleman named Newton .... (of) Maryland Point ... snatched the revolver from his hand. Slaughter fell on the pavement, insensible.

Illustration from 26 January 1884
Illustrated Police News

The police were called, Slaughter was arrested and taken to West Ham police station.

In giving evidence to the police, Kitty Pole's mother, Catherine, told them:

(Slaughter) has been keeping company with my daughter. He has deceived her so often, and told her such a load of falsehoods, that on my advice she refused to go out with him.

She said that at one time she had told Slaughter "I have an umbrella in my hand, if you molest my daughter, I'll lay this about your head".

The arresting officer, PC Lampard said "I found a photograph of (Kitty Pole) on Slaughter, on which was written 'This young woman is mine. R.S. I am her lover.'".

The divisional police surgeon said when called to examine Slaughter at the police station:

I found him lying apparently insensible, in the reserve room. His appearance was that of a person in a genuine fit. In fact he was shamming. I threatened that I would use the galvanic battery (electric shock treatment) and he got up. He was perfectly sober.

Reginald Slaughter (a failed case of nominative determinism?) was charged with attempted murder and attempted suicide. Once more, having provided some salacious copy, The Illustrated Police News lost interest in the case, and did not report the outcome of the trial.

3. Awful calamity at Forest Gate - fire at a school - 11 January 1890

This was the Illustrated Police News' account of the fire at the Industrial school in Forest Lane, which we have previously covered here and here.

The written account of the fire is quite graphic, and like a modern day tabloid report of a catastrophe, focuses on dramatic witness statements, mainly from the children and staff of the school.

Illustration from 11 January 1890
 Illustrated Police News

The front page illustration, above, was suitably action-packed, and doubtless proved a good selling point for that week's edition of the paper.

Unlike other cases reported by the newspaper, it was actually followed up, two weeks later, with coverage of the inquest and the verdict. This, again, provided the paper with plenty of opportunity for colourful reporting.

4. Fearful domestic tragedy at Upton Park - alleged murder of two children and an attempted suicide - 30 April 1904

This case had everything as far as salacious reporting was concerned, and the illustration of the case covered the whole of the front page of the newspaper.

The story was, indeed a tragedy and concerned William Folkard of 214 Queen's Road, who was accused of murdering two of his four children: Grace, aged eight years and Thomas, aged seven months.

The family occupied the top two floors of the house (of three).

In the front room of the first floor slept Folkard and his wife, the back room was used as the kitchen, while the children's bedroom was the attic.

 Twelve months ago Folkard had the misfortune to lose two of his children, one dying two days after the other. Since then he has been afflicted by bouts of depression and has had, it is said, frequent drinking bouts.

Illustration from 30 April 1904
 Illustrated Police News

Folkard had been absent from his home a week before the killings - hop-picking, he said. When he returned, he cut the throats of the two children and then attempted to cut his own. He was found alive and taken to West Ham hospital.

The police found a note on his body:

Will and Freddy (his two surviving children) will be able to keep their mother in ten years' time. Girls are not much good, but Grace has been a good girls. Tommy is so young (the latter two being those he murdered).

Again, like other IPN dramatic case, having reported the gore, the paper did not follow the case up with details of the trial and its outcome.

Footnote

Access to the entire contents of the Independent Police News can be gained via the British Newspaper Archive website, see here: 

It is a subscription service, but invaluable to anyone with a serious interest in researching almost any aspect of modern British history. It is continuously expanding its coverage, but currently covers over 760 publications and has 20 million accessible pages - which can be searched via a very powerful search engine. 

A special bit of pleading to them , in exchange for this plug: Please digitise the entire back catalogue of the Stratford Express, ASAP!

Murdergate (1)

We have recently come across a website dedicated to providing details of every reported murder in London since the time of Jack the Ripper (www.murdermap.co.uk). The authors accept it is a tall order, but they have made significant steps in tracking most murders committed over the last 15 years.  The reports on the site are based on court records and press accounts.

The site's search engine is pretty effective, and so we've tracked details of 18 Forest Gate murders, most of which have been solved, since 2003.  We present the findings, complete with photos of most of the victims and those convicted, over two posts.

The reports are pretty gruesome, but throw up a number of interesting conclusions.

Firstly, Forest Gate has averaged a murder and a half, per year since 2003, and it is somewhat reassuring that all but 3 of them has been "solved", in so far as the perpetrators have been found and sentenced. Two of the three "unsolved" cases have identified suspects, who are awaiting trial.

The UK national "average" murder rate is currently approximately one murder per 100,000 of the population. Forest Gate's population is approximately 45,000, suggesting that the local "murder rate" is approximately three times the national average.

Although this murder rate may seem high, for a relatively small district and population; the area, as such is not "dangerous". The headline figure of numbers disguises the fact that there are very few "random" murders, with victims being completely unknown or unrelated to the killer. 

So, disturbing as the rate is, the chances of being randomly murdered in the street, by a stray bullet, for example, is thankfully incredibly low (odds of more than one million to one).

Unsurprisingly, the most frequent explanation of the murders (five of the 18 cases examined) was a domestic dispute. The six people convicted of these five murders were sentenced to a total of 128 years imprisonment.

The most shocking thing about the other cases is the relatively inconsequential nature of many of the "motives" for the murders, and the heavy price paid by the perpetrators for what was often a moment's madness.

So, a row over a pinched bottom in a nightclub saw two people murdered and two convicted men receiving jail sentences of 68 years, in total. A row over a parking space resulted in the murder of two victims, with the convicted killer receiving a 26 year prison sentence. Two victims were killed because of drug debts.  Their killers received 15 years and an indefinite sentence in Broadmoor, respectively.

One victim was clearly "the wrong man"; his killer received 30 years.

Most shockingly, perhaps, was that one young man was killed as part of a robbery for his mobile phone and his killer received indefinite detention, and another young man was killed over an unpaid £15 debt.  His killer was given a 15 year sentence.

In this, the first of two posts, we provide details of the first (chronologically) nine of the area's 18 murders.

1 and 2. Amarjit Singh Tiwana and Rajinder Singh Tiwana : Date of murder:29 Aug 2003, solved (parking place)
Businessman Amarjit Singh Tiwana, 52, and his nephew Rajinder Singh Tiwana, 25, were shot dead with a sub-machine gun in broad daylight, as they  were visiting the Forest View Hotel at 227 Romford Road, which they jointly owned, on 29 August 2003.

But this wasn't a gangland killing. They were murdered over a trivial parking dispute. Unable to get past a Volkswagen Golf blocking entry the back of the hotel on Atherton Mews, they left their van across the end of the road.

Victims: Rajinder Singh Tiwana
 and Amarjit Singh Tiwana

When the driver of the Golf, 20 year-old Mohammed Ayub Khan, returned from Friday prayers at the mosque, he was unable to get out and began beeping his horn. After an argument with the Tiwanas he left the scene, only to return with two other men a few minutes later to attack the van.

When Amarjit and Rajinder ran out to confront the group they were gunned down using a Mac 10 machine pistol. The attack was witnessed by Amarjit's 26 year-old daughter Harjinder, who was able to identify Khan as the gunman.

By that time Khan had fled to Pakistan. He was placed on the Met's Most Wanted list in 2004 but was not arrested until he travelled to Bangladesh in August 2010. On 12 December 12, 2011, Khan was convicted of both murders at Woolwich Crown Court and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 26 years before parole.

Detectives are still appealing for help identifying the two other men involved and locating the murder weapon.

Convicted: Mohammed Ayub Khan

DI Yeats said: "We are still seeking two casually dressed Asian men wearing hooded tops in their late teens or early 20's. They ran away from the scene during the busy period after Friday prayers and turned right into Norwich Road, crossed Romford Road and continued south in Margery Park Road where they may have got into a parked vehicle".

3. Rizwan Darbar: Date of murder: 7 Oct 2007, solved (robbery)
On the afternoon of 7 October 2007, A-level Student Rizwan Darbar was hanging out in West Ham Park, listening to music on his friend's mobile phone. Kirkland Gayle approached the group and snatched the phone, adding: "I haven't seen you around before."

They asked for it back but a second youth, 19 year-old Anthony Maina, appeared from the bushes with a knife in his hand. He quickly jabbed Rizwan in the stomach, severing a major artery, after being told: 'Poke him.'

Victim: Rizwan Darbar

As the killers ran off with the phone, the victim screamed 'I've been juked' and bled to death.

Maina was arrested on suspicion of murder but released on police bail - and then took part in a robbery which left the Hackney Matalan store manager Jamie Simpson stabbed to death.

In August 2009, Maina, from Beckton, was convicted of the murder of Rizwan Darbar and locked up for a minimum of 14 years.

Anthony Maina, convicted of murdering
 Rizwan Darbar and of manslaughter
 in Matalan robbery

Gayle, from Stratford, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and robbery and jailed for eight years.

Maina was later convicted of manslaughter for his role in the Matalan robbery and given an indefinite prison sentence in March 2010.

4. Karl Gbedemah: Date of murder:1 Aug 2008, unsolved (unknown cause)
Karl Gbedemah, 47, was killed in the head by a stray bullet (in a moment of supreme irony) as he stood near the Live and Let Live on Romford Road in the early hours of 1 August  2008.

It is thought the murder weapon, a converted Baikal pistol, was fired during a clash between two groups of men in nearby Sprowston Road.

Mr Gbedemah, known as ''Kudjo'', was taken to hospital at 3.45pm but was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

DJ Emmanuel Sakyi, 22, was charged with murder and stood trial at Woolwich Crown Court but claimed he left the pub before the shooting.

The jury cleared him of all charges in June 2010.

5. Michael Wright: Date of murder:19 Feb 2009, solved (argument between associates)
Student Michael Wright, 17, was stabbed to death when he asked his friend to pay him back £15. He had lent 16 year-old Bradley Walters-Stewart the cash to pay the entrance fee to a nightclub six days earlier.

In the days before his death he made a series of visits to Mr Walters-Stewart's home in Forest Gate, At 10pm on 19 February he knocked at the house again but got no answer and kicked the door in frustration.

Victim: Michael Wright

After contacting him by phone, Michael managed to arrange a meeting with his friend - known as M-kid - outside Maryland train station in Stratford. During the confrontation, Walter-Stewart was heard shouting: "Who the fuck do you think you are coming to my house like that?".

He then stabbed Michael in the abdomen with a knife he had brought from his kitchen. Witnesses heard the victim plead 'don't shank me' as Walters-Stewart pulled out the knife.

Bradley Walters-Stewart - convicted of murder
 and sentenced to a minimum of 14 years

The killer then walked away 'slowly and casually' as passers-by rushed to the victim's aid. Police found Walters-Stewart hiding in the loft of his mum's flat two days later.

During the Old Bailey trial he claimed Michael fell on to the knife when the two boys started fighting in the street. He was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey and sentenced to detention for life in June 2009 and ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years behind bars.

6. Syed Shazad Abbass: Date of murder:7 Sept 2009, solved (drugs debt)
Syed Shazad Abbass was kidnapped and tortured over a suspected drugs debt on 7 September 2009. He was bundled into an Audi A3 outside his home in Earlham Grove, Forest Gate at around 3.30am.

Mr Abbass, who ran a window fitting business and traded in second hand cars, was found dressed only in his boxer shorts on a pavement in Flanders Road, East Ham, east London, later that morning.

He was taken to hospital with a brain haemorrhage but was pronounced dead the next day. He had also lost or broken several teeth, suffered a broken nose and eye socket, a lighter burn to his thigh and a series of small puncture wounds across his back.

At 6.15am police were called to Royston Gardens in Ilford, where they found the victim's burnt out Audi. A search of Mr Abbass' second car, a Honda, revealed crack cocaine and heroin in a door panel.

Blaize Lunkulu, of Weymarks, Weir Hall Road, Tottenham, and Vikar Khan, of St Stephen's Close, Walthamstow, were originally charged with murder. They pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conspiracy to kidnap and pervert the course of justice on 2 August 2010.

Blaize Lunkulu - imprisoned for
public protection, minimum of six years

On 27 October 2010 Lunkulu was sentenced to imprisonment for public protection with a minimum of six years and four months before parole and Khan, who claimed he did not take part in the violence after the initial abduction, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment.

Judge Stephen Kramer QC said: 'The circumstances of the offences are truly horrific. 'You and the deceased were involved in the drugs scene. He apparently owed drugs and cash. That was the start of the violence, humiliation and torture of the deceased. 'You were then both involved in trying to destroy evidence.'

7. Mahmood Jama: Date of murder:6 Jan 2010, solved (drugs related)
Mahmood Jama, 21, was shot at the Whyteville House block of flats in Upton Lane at around 1am on 6 January 2010.

Mr Jama, a British citizen born in Somalia and living at Boundary Road, Plaistow, died two hours later in hospital of a shotgun wound to the chest.

Victim: Mahmood Jama

The Old Bailey heard he had been involved in a feud with a teenage drug dealer in the run up to the shooting.

Witnesses said the gun went off as the two men tussled over the weapon on the first floor lift bay.

On April 19, 2011, Mohamed Farah Ali, 19, was convicted of manslaughter. Two months later he was locked up indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital under sections 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act.

8 and 9. Patrick Ford and  Eugene Brown: Date of murder:29 May 2010, solved (argument in club)
Two men were shot dead outside the now defunct Sugar Lounge nightclub, Katherine Road, on the morning of 29 May 2010.

The first victim, Patrick Ford, 36, died at the scene after being shot in the chest in Katherine Road. His friend Eugene Brown, 27, died in hospital from a bullet wound to the head five weeks later on July 7.

Victims: Patrick Ford and Eugene Brown

The gunman, Michael Smith, was also shot in the head, shoulder and buttock after being chased through the street by Kevin Powell but survived. All three shootings were captured on CCTV footage.

Two men were charged with both murders: Michael Smith, 27, of Beaconsfield Road, Canning Town, east London, and Nana Oppong, 30, of West Road, Stratford, east London. Kevin Powell, 34, of Harlesden Road, Willesden, was charged with attempted murder.

All three first went on trial at the Old Bailey on 22 March 2011. The prosecution case was that the incident started when Eugene Brown fired four shots into the ceiling of the club after a man groped his girlfriend's buttocks.

Convicted: Michael Smith.
Sentenced to a minimum of 34 years

Oppong, who was celebrating his 30th birthday that night, was said to have handed a gun to Smith and pointed out Mr Brown outside the club. Smith opened fire, shooting Mr Brown in the back of the head. Mr Ford, who was trying to take away Mr Brown's gun, was hit in the chest by a stray bullet and died of a fatal injury to his heart.

Powell then grabbed Mr Ford's gun and chased Mr Smith down the road, repeatedly opening fire. Smith managed to get into a car containing Oppong and was taken to hospital
.
Smith claimed he opened fire in self defence thinking Mr Brown was still armed, Oppong denied involvement in the murder and Mr Powell also claimed he acted in self defence.

Convicted: Kevin Powell.
Sentenced to 34 years

In June 2011 Smith was convicted of two counts of murder. The jury were unable to reach verdicts on Oppong and Powell and a retrial began on 9 May 2012.

The second jury convicted Powell of attempted murder but were unable to reach verdicts on Oppong. On September 21 the prosecution announced they would not seek a third trial and Oppong was formally found not guilty of the two murder charges. He was jailed for two years for perverting the course of justice by lying to police.

Smith was jailed for life with a minimum of 34 years before parole and Powell was sentenced to 34 years imprisonment.

Footnote:

The Murder map website (here) is run by volunteers and receives no official funding. They would be grateful for any donations, to keep their project active. Details can be found on the site.  We express our thanks to them for their meticulous work, which has enabled this post to be written.