15/12/1904

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The annual Peterborough Christmas Fat Stock Show was held in the Cattle Market off the New Road in this week. Reports describe a very wet day - all day - but, in the true spirit of things, the show went on as usual. However, the show was not as large as previously, which was disappointing. The upside was that prices were consequently better than normal. Beef prices were singled out as being particularly good and contrasting very favourably with the low prices achieved just a few weeks previous. The champion bullock weighed in at 17.5cwt and fetched the very attractive price of £38 10s. (Northampton Mercury)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

2001

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Ten days after the September 11 2001 attack in the United States, at a time of greatly heightened racial tensions, Ross Andrew Parker aged 17 years, who was white, was murdered in an unprovoked racially motivated attack. He bled to death after being stabbed, beaten with a hammer, and repeatedly kicked by a gang of British Pakistani men in Millfield close to Bourges Boulevard.

In December 2002, Shaied Nazir, Ahmed Ali Awan and Sarfraz Ali were found guilty of Parker's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, Awan to serve a minimum term of 18 years and the others a minimum term of 16 years. The judge, Sir Edwin Jowitt, said during sentencing,

”You put your heads together with the purpose of arming yourselves and of attacking an innocent man you might find by chance simply because he was of a different race to yourselves. A racist killing must be one of the gravest kinds of killing.”

As a result of the murder of Ross Parker, local authorities set up a unity scheme, whereby gang members from different communities were trained as youth workers to attempt to ease racial tensions and so reduce violence.

The press subsequently received criticism for under-reporting racially motivated attacks on white victims.

A memorial plaque for Ross Parker is located in the Netherton area of Peterborough where a football match is played each year in his memory.

References:

The Peterborough Telegraph

Peterborough Man Killed in London Terrorist Attack

2005

Information

The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also known as 7/7, were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks in London, that targeted commuters travelling on the public transport system during the morning rush hour.

Four Islamic terrorists separately detonated three homemade bombs - triacetone triperoxide IEDs packed into backpacks - in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. Two trains on the Circle line were targeted, one near Aldgate and one at Edgeware Road and one train on the Piccadilly line near Russell Square.

Apart from the bombers, 52 people were killed, and more than 700 were injured in the attacks. One of those killed on the Piccadilly line was James Adams aged 32 years, from Peterborough, who had recently started a new job as an endowment mortgage adviser for Deloittes, in the Strand. Mr Adams had been a chorister at Peterborough King’s School, where he roomed with Labour’s Tottenham MP David Lammy. He was a committed Christian who was an active member of the Bretton Baptist Church where he served as a deacon for three years and also a keen sports fan, in particular enjoying motor racing and Manchester United Football Club.

The 7 July bombings were Britain’s first Islamic suicide attack and the deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland.

References:

The Guardian Obituary, Thu 28 Jul 2005

The Peterborough Telegraph, Tue 30 Nov 2010

Image:

The Evening Standard 7 July 2005 - The British Library

Murder , Terrorist

1849

Information

Alice McKenzie was born at Drapers House in Priestgate in 1849, but moved to the East End of London, where it is likely that she worked as a prostitute. She was murdered at about 12.40am on Wednesday 17^th July 1889 in Castle Alley, Whitechapel by a method very similar to that used by Jack the Ripper, the infamous Whitechapel serial killer. Many believe she was one of his last victims.

An interview with John McCormack, the man Alice had been living with in London, stated he thought she was from Peterborough. They had been living together for about seven years and he thought she was quite respectable. This was echoed by her friend Margaret Franklin, who claimed she was also known as Alice Bryant.

Jack the Ripper , Whitechapel , Murder , Alice McKenzie

1786

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On the 13th May 1786 Mr Robert Shelston was found dead in his yard in Eye. An inquest revealed his death had been caused by a fatal blow to the head: he had been murdered. After an investigation and conversation with several witnesses, the conclusion was made that Henry Love, also of Eye, was the perpetrator.

Henry Love was found playing ninepins in Market Deeping. He was arrested and taken to the Angel Inn in Peterborough, where he confessed to the murder quite freely. (1)

He went before Justice of the Peace Robert Blake on 12th July, where he was sentenced for execution on Borough Fen common the week after. Love was described as 'most astonishingly illiterate and of a sanguine disposition.' He'd also confessed to planning to rob and murder farmer Mr Richardson, also of Eye, before he'd been arrested. (2)

On Friday 21st July, Henry Love walked the five mile journey from the gaol in Peterborough to Borough Fen via Eye. He was attacked by angry villagers as he entered Eye. Henry was so badly beaten that he needed support to walk to the execution tree. He was hanged from the tree and from there his body was taken to an out building overnight in Peterborough. His body was used for dissection by doctors. (3)

References

(1) Stamford Mercury, Friday 19th May 1786, p3, column 3

(2) Stamford Mercury, Friday 14th July 1786, p3, column 3

(3) Stamford Mercury, Friday 21st July 1786, p3, column 3

Borough Fen , Murder

The Murder of Ross Parker

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Rain Raises Prices

15/12/1904

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The Murder of Ross Parker

2001

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Peterborough Man Killed in London Terrorist Attack

2005

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A Jack the Ripper Victim?

1849

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An Eye for an Eye

1786

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The Murder of Ross Parker