Liddle Towers
Encyclopedia
Liddle Towers was a 39 year old electrician and amateur boxer from Chester-le-Street
, Co. Durham, England
, who died following a spell in police custody in 1976.
on 16 January 1976 by PC Goodner. After a struggle he was put into a dog van by six policemen and taken to Gateshead police station. Later, at 4 am, he was taken from the station to Queen Elizabeth Hospital because he complained of not feeling well, and, after an examination which apparently revealed no injury and nothing wrong with him, he was taken back to the cells. He was discharged later that same morning at 10 o'clock.
Both the taxi driver who took Towers home and his local GP, Dr. Alan Powney, who saw him later that day at 2 o'clock, gave evidence that was consistent with Towers' own account of having been assaulted in the cells. Towers told his friend: 'They gave us a bloody good kicking outside the Key Club, but that was naught to what I got when I got inside'. Towers died on 9 February 1976 at Dryburn Hospital, County Durham
from injuries received at the hands of the police during the night of 15-16 January.
On 8 October 1976, an inquest into the death of Towers returned a verdict of 'justifiable homicide'. The verdict was widely criticised.
released a single entitled 'The Murder of Liddle Towers' in 1978. Sex Pistols
producer Dave Goodman
released a record called 'Justifiable Homicide'. The Tom Robinson Band
dedicated their 1979 album, TRB Two
to Mrs. Mary Towers, the mother of Liddle Towers. The song Blue Murder on this album relates to the death of Towers.
In 1977, the mod band The Jam
were critical of the police in their song "Time for Truth" which contains the lyric "Bring forward the six pigs, We wanna see them swing so high, Liddle Towers!"
Skinhead band The Crux also did a song called "Liddle Towers" about the incident.
In June 1978, the 'justifiable homicide' verdict was set aside by the Queen's Bench Divisional Court, which ordered a new inquest. The second inquest, held in Bishop Auckland
in October 1978, reached a verdict of 'death by misadventure'.
Chester-le-Street
Chester-le-Street is a town in County Durham, England. It has a history going back to Roman times when it was called Concangis. The town is located south of Newcastle upon Tyne and west of Sunderland on the River Wear...
, Co. Durham, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who died following a spell in police custody in 1976.
Death
Towers was arrested outside the Key Club in BirtleyBirtley, Tyne and Wear
Birtley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is situated to the south of Gateshead town and is physically linked to Chester-le-Street across the County boundary in County Durham. Until 1974, Birtley and the adjoining areas of Barley Mow, Vigo and...
on 16 January 1976 by PC Goodner. After a struggle he was put into a dog van by six policemen and taken to Gateshead police station. Later, at 4 am, he was taken from the station to Queen Elizabeth Hospital because he complained of not feeling well, and, after an examination which apparently revealed no injury and nothing wrong with him, he was taken back to the cells. He was discharged later that same morning at 10 o'clock.
Both the taxi driver who took Towers home and his local GP, Dr. Alan Powney, who saw him later that day at 2 o'clock, gave evidence that was consistent with Towers' own account of having been assaulted in the cells. Towers told his friend: 'They gave us a bloody good kicking outside the Key Club, but that was naught to what I got when I got inside'. Towers died on 9 February 1976 at Dryburn Hospital, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
from injuries received at the hands of the police during the night of 15-16 January.
On 8 October 1976, an inquest into the death of Towers returned a verdict of 'justifiable homicide'. The verdict was widely criticised.
In Popular Culture
Punk band the Angelic UpstartsAngelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock/Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. The band espoused an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the skinhead subculture...
released a single entitled 'The Murder of Liddle Towers' in 1978. Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
producer Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman
Dave Goodman was a record producer and musician, perhaps best known as the live sound engineer for Sex Pistols, and the producer of three of their studio demo sessions.-Sex Pistols:...
released a record called 'Justifiable Homicide'. The Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band
Tom Robinson Band were a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson...
dedicated their 1979 album, TRB Two
TRB Two
TRB Two is the second studio album by Tom Robinson Band. It was recorded days after the original drummer, Dolphin Taylor, had left the band. The TRB disbanded four months after the release. Steve Ridgeway was responsible for the cover design. The album was dedicated to Mrs. Mary Towers, the mother...
to Mrs. Mary Towers, the mother of Liddle Towers. The song Blue Murder on this album relates to the death of Towers.
In 1977, the mod band The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
were critical of the police in their song "Time for Truth" which contains the lyric "Bring forward the six pigs, We wanna see them swing so high, Liddle Towers!"
Skinhead band The Crux also did a song called "Liddle Towers" about the incident.
In June 1978, the 'justifiable homicide' verdict was set aside by the Queen's Bench Divisional Court, which ordered a new inquest. The second inquest, held in Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...
in October 1978, reached a verdict of 'death by misadventure'.
External links
- http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1977/dec/12/mr-liddle-towers Parliamentary Debate, December 1977.