Author Topic: The trial and execution of Oswald Augustus Grey 1962. Any living memories?  (Read 2931 times)

JonB

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I know that this is a topic (now forgotten by most) that has appeared briefly on here before.


I'm an academic and author (my last book, Hugging Strangers, was about supporting the Blues!!) and I'm looking into this event as part of a social history that I'm writing about Brum in the early 1960s.


I'm after anyone who knows anyone still living who is connected to the case in any capacity - witness, relative, police, local resident - and who might be prepared to be contacted by me.


To save time and trouble, I don't need the basic story or the press accounts of the events. These are in the public domain and easily accessible. Judicial documents are currently subject to Freedom of Information restrictions, however, so anyone who knows anyone who was around at the time, I'd love to communicate with them.


Many thanks.

RoyMcC

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Good luck with the project Jon. I can't be of assistance though I was living in Brum at the time. Strange that there was ever a time in living memory where we executed people for whatever reason, never mind where the evidence was sketchy.

JonB

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Thanks, Roy. I knew the area where the crime happened, Lee Bank Road, and where Oswald Grey lived and hung about, Cannon Hill Road/Mary Street/Calthorpe Park, like the back of my hand as a kid. I was nine at the time - and yet to come across anyone around at the time who even remembers this episode!

Scipio

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Thanks, Roy. I knew the area where the crime happened, Lee Bank Road, and where Oswald Grey lived and hung about, Cannon Hill Road/Mary Street/Calthorpe Park, like the back of my hand as a kid. I was nine at the time - and yet to come across anyone around at the time who even remembers this episode!


JonB I am aware of this crime but know no details , I probably know a tad more about the Wheeleys Rd murder involving Stephanie Baird and Patrick Joseph Burn .
If voting made any difference , they wouldn't let us do it.
Mark Twain

JonB

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Thanks, Scipio.


I'm very aware of that rather gruesome murder as well. My grandmother lived on Wheeleys Road at the time! Because of its  more lurid nature, it also received much more press coverage than the murder of Thomas Bates. Patrick Joseph Burn, unlike Oswald Grey, was not executed. A horrible crime, all the same.

GardenGerald

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Hello Everyone
How many people on this forum have been detained as a murder suspect.
Gerald.

Scipio

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Hello Everyone
How many people on this forum have been detained as a murder suspect.
Gerald.


I can honestly stand up and say not me Gerald .
If voting made any difference , they wouldn't let us do it.
Mark Twain

Scipio

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Thanks, Scipio.


I'm very aware of that rather gruesome murder as well. My grandmother lived on Wheeleys Road at the time! Because of its  more lurid nature, it also received much more press coverage than the murder of Thomas Bates. Patrick Joseph Burn, unlike Oswald Grey, was not executed. A horrible crime, all the same.


Jonb Why this crime particularly ?
If voting made any difference , they wouldn't let us do it.
Mark Twain

GardenGerald

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Hello Scipio
About 40 years ago a working girl in Basall Heath was murdered and her body dumped on Cannock Chase. I live in
Pembrokeshire but the finger was pointed at me. I was interviewed and the Police Inspector said its not you. You were out with the boys getting
the Hay in on the day of the murder and all ten vouch for you.
He was back 2 days later to tell me I had to go to Edward Road Police Station. They say it is the colour of your van that points the finger at you.
He said the person who you bought the van from is saying he never knew anything about this van. He said will you drive yourself up there.
I did and was well looked after in the Police Station. Ham Sandwiches with coffee and a newspaper to read. They told me they had brought in the man I had  bought the van from and could I pick him out in a line up. I said yes. About 15 minutes later they told me he did not like the idea of a line and had sold it to me after the murder.
They thanked me for my help and escorted me to the boundry.
I was also questioned about the pub bombings because the boxes of plants might have explosives in them but that was a friendly affair apart from being stripped naked in Bordesley Green.
I have no idea what happened  to the man that did commit the  murder.
Thank God I never felt the rope.
Gerald

Scipio

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It must have been horrific at first for you Gerald , I don't think I could have handled it the way you did . Was there any recompense for your trouble ?
If voting made any difference , they wouldn't let us do it.
Mark Twain

JonB

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Re: The trial and execution of Oswald Augustus Grey 1962. Any living memories?
« Reply #10 on: January 25, 2021, 02:33:24 PM »
In reply to Scipio's question about 'why this crime' - well, of course, I'd be inclined to advise you to buy the book and find out  :) . However, as I'm still writing it and I don't envisage it being completed until the early summer.....


.......this is an almost forgotten crime. It happened on my doorstep and the consequences were that a young black man became the last person to hang at Winson Green. And although some people have a few hazy memories and connections, when you start comparing what happened to Oswald Grey with what happened to James Hanratty six months earlier, you'll see how it has almost been airbrushed from history.


At present, I'm trying to get a view of some official documentation and am being refused on the grounds that the information may be harmful to surviving witnesses or relatives of those involved in the crime. If only I could find some, I might be more inclined to see their point of view - hence coming on this forum.


 

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