Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Southampton

by John J Eddleston

  Chapter 8

  The Knobkerrie Michael George Tatum 1959

  Charles Frederick Barrett, a veteran of the Boer War, lived at 11 Belmont Road, Portswood, Southampton. The house had no fewer than eight rooms and Barrett occupied the front rooms on both the ground floor and the first floor. Other rooms had been let out to lodgers. Thus, John Gerrard Finn had a central room at the back on the first floor and the middle room downstairs. There was one other adult living at 11 Belmont Road, the housekeeper, Mrs Mary Tatum, who had moved in with her husband and baby daughter, three weeks before Christmas 1958. Since that time, Mr and Mrs Tatum had argued and, as a result, he had moved out in early January 1959, leaving Mary alone with her child.

  John Finn worked nights and on the evening of Thursday, 15 January, he left for work at 7.00pm. He returned to Belmont Road at around 7.30am the following morning and entered the house through the back door, something he did as a matter of course. He could see immediately that something was wrong.

  The conservatory door and window were open. Barrett was a creature of habit and always locked up the house at around 10.00pm each night, even turning off the water supply. For security purposes, the most he would ever leave unlocked was a small ventilation window.

  As Finn walked further into the house he heard what he thought were snoring noises, coming from the direction of the hallway. Having first turned the water back on, Finn walked down the hallway and noticed that the door to the middle room, his own living room, was open.

  Going upstairs to investigate further, Finn saw that Barrett’s bedroom door was wide open and his light was on. Finn entered the room and saw, to his horror, a large round patch of blood in the centre of Barrett’s pillow on the bed. As for Charles Barrett himself, he lay on the floor at the foot of the bed with his head towards the bed. He had a terrible gash on his forehead, was covered in blood and made horrible choking and snoring noises. Barrett was still alive and Finn now had to summon help urgently. He dashed to Mrs Tatum’s room and told her what he had found before running to the nearest public telephone box and calling for the police and an ambulance.

  The bedroom at 11 Belmont Road, where Charles Frederick Barrett was attacked. Note the bloodstained items on the floor.

  Finn waited at the telephone box for the police to arrive. The first officer on the scene was Constable Anthony John Bushrod. He went to the house with Finn and timed his arrival at 7.52am. Going into the bedroom where Barrett lay, Bushrod saw that the Venetian blinds were drawn. Barrett lay face down, in a large pool of blood and the top half of his body was saturated in the crimson liquid. He was wearing nothing but a shirt and it was difficult to determine exactly what injuries he had sustained. Gently, Constable Bushrod turned the injured man onto his side, rested his head on two pillows, which he took from the bed and placed some blankets over him to keep him warm until medical help arrived.

  Bushrod noticed that when he had first entered the room, the bedclothes had been pulled back and one of the pillows was heavily bloodstained. This suggested that the initial attack had taken place whilst Barrett was in bed, possibly asleep. Had he disturbed an intruder, been struck once and then leapt out of bed to confront the assailant whereupon he had been attacked again?

  In due course the ambulance arrived and Barrett was rushed to hospital. Constable Bushrod accompanied the injured man and noted, as he left the house, that there were a large number of African weapons displayed on the wall in the hallway. There was a mark on the wall where one weapon was missing from that display.

  In fact, the weapon used to batter Charles Barrett was, to say the least, a most unusual one. Barrett was a collector of African artefacts and one item he owned was a knobkerrie, which was basically a long, rather springy stick with a heavy, ball-shaped head. This had been given to Barratt by H Ryder Haggard, the author of many adventure stories including King Solomon’s Mines and She. The knobkerrie was used by swinging it at an adversary, and the spring in the shaft would add to the momentum of the heavy head, thus adding to its impact. It was this weapon which had been taken from the wall display and used to attack Charles Barrett.

  The body of Charles Barrett, showing the injuries he had sustained on his head.

  Despite receiving prompt medical attention, Charles Barrett died from his injuries at 10.30am that same day. This was now a case of murder and, further, it was a case of capital murder.

  In 1957, the Homicide Act had come into force. Prior to this, the mandatory sentence for murder was death by hanging but the law had now changed. Now, a murderer would only face the noose if his crime fell in to one of five categories. These categories were: murder in the furtherance of theft, murder by shooting or explosion, murder whilst resisting arrest or during an escape, murder of a police officer or prison officer and two murders committed on different occasion. Since the house was ransacked, it appeared that robbery had been the motive in this crime. If that was indeed shown to be the case, then the killer, when he was caught, would face the death penalty.

  Two factors immediately caused the police to surmise that this crime had been committed by someone who knew the house well. To begin with, there was no sign of a forced entry. The assailant had either been let in by his victim or had a key to the premises. Further, the weapon had been taken down from the wall, implying that the miscreant had known of its existence. It was this line of argument which led officers to twenty-four-year-old Michael George Tatum who had only left his wife and moved out of the house a week or so ago. The first step for the police was to find out what they could about Tatum.

  Officers soon discovered that Tatum had left school at the age of sixteen and a number of jobs had followed, mainly as a cinema projectionist, but he had found the late nights rather too much and had finally sought other employment. A native of London he had met his future wife, Mary Theresa, in September 1956. They married the following year and lived together at 103 Frithfield Gardens in Shepherd’s Bush. On 12 February 1958, the couple had had a daughter, Yvonne, and soon afterwards, in the following November, the family had decided that they needed a fresh start and decided to move to Southampton where Mary’s brother lived.

  For two weeks, the Tatums had lived at 107 Mansell Road until Mary saw an advertisement in the local newspaper from a gentleman seeking a housekeeper. In return for light household duties, a free flat would be provided. That led Mary to an interview with Charles Barrett and a move to 11 Belmont Road. At about the same time, Michael got a job as a fitter for Firestone Tyres and things appeared to be improving for the family.

  On 5 January 1959, Michael Tatum had taken five shillings from his wife’s purse and gone out for a drink. When he returned, he had argued with his wife not only about the money he had taken but also about the fact that he expressed a desire to purchase a car at a time they could ill afford it. For the rest of that week, the couple did not speak to each other. Things went from bad to worse when Michael Tatum returned home from work early on Friday 9 January and informed his wife that he had been dismissed, as his references had been unsatisfactory. He handed over £4 in cash and told her that it would be better for her if she returned to Scotland where she had once lived. As a result of that, Mary had spoken to Mr Barrett and told him that she was thinking of leaving. He asked her to stay and said that he would speak to her husband and ask him to leave the house instead. Mary did move out for a few days, and went back to her brother’s house but did eventually return. As for her husband, he had packed his belongings and moved out of Belmont Road at 1.00pm on Saturday, 10 January, just five days before the attack upon Mr Barrett. It was now time for officers to interview their suspect.

  At 2.45pm that same day, Detective Inspector Robert John Masters, Detective Sergeant Harry Ancill and Detective Sergeant Patrick Joseph O’Sullivan were in Tennyson Road when they saw a man fitting Tatum’s description approaching them. Ancill identified himself as a police officer and asked the man if he were Michael George Tatum. The man said that he was, whereupon he was informed
that the officers were investigating an incident in which serious injuries had been inflicted upon Mr Barrett. At this stage, the officers did not reveal that Barrett had died from his injuries and that they were investigating something much more serious than an assault. Tatum was asked if he would answer some questions about his movements of the previous evening. Tatum said he knew nothing about the matter but agreed to go to the police station to offer what help he could.

  Once at the station, Tatum was asked to empty his pockets and amongst the items he produced was a wallet containing £7 in one pound notes. There was also a key case, which held two keys and Tatum confirmed that one was the key to the house at 11 Belmont Road. The other was the key to his new lodgings. Asked now to confirm his movements of the previous night Tatum said that he had been out with two friends, Trevor and Don.

  According to Tatum’s statement, he had met Trevor and Don in The Oak public house at the bottom of Cambridge Road and was with them from around 8.00pm until 9.45pm. He had then left them and gone alone to another pub, at the other end of Cambridge Road, where he had stayed until closing time. He had then left, with a ‘chap’ he had met in there and went with him to his flat where he stayed until around 12.45am. He had never seen this man before but he gave the name Derek and they had driven to Derek’s ground floor flat in a fawn coloured Zephyr or possibly a Zodiac.

  Some time after this, whilst the initial story was being checked out, Tatum confided to Inspector Masters that this Derek had given him £8 in cash for ‘future promises’. The suggestion was that Derek was a homosexual and Tatum had led him on, promising to go back to his flat on the Sunday. Tatum of course had no intention of returning and in fact, couldn’t say precisely where the flat was, though he could show the officers the street it was on.

  At 9.00pm, Tatum was interviewed again and asked if he were sure that the statement he had given was correct. Tatum said that it was but added that when he left Derek’s flat he had been given a lift back to the end of Cambridge Road. He then gave a description of Derek as six feet tall, aged about 30, with fair, wavy hair and wearing a brown suit. Tatum had also noticed a pair of string driving gloves in the car.

  Tatum was now asked to provide more details of the two men he had spent the earlier part of the evening with, Trevor and Don. He said he had met them in the public bar of The Oak but didn’t know their surnames. He had known them only by sight and had been in other bars with them on previous occasions. He was then asked to draw the layout of the bar where they had all met up and it was noticed that Tatum drew the plan with his left hand. This was significant because by now, medical evidence had suggested that the killer was almost certainly left-handed.

  Inspector Masters decided that it was time to check out Tatum’s alibi. Again accompanied by Ancill and O’Sullivan, Masters drove Tatum to Cambridge Road, to positively identify the two pubs and to try to trace Derek’s house.

  The first pub, The Oak, did not exist. Tatum explained that the pub he had been in had a sign outside with a tree on it. The only establishment that might have fitted that description was the Royal Oak in Ledger Road and Tatum confirmed that this was the one he meant. Immediately, the licensee, Reginald Cole was brought across to the car and asked if Tatum had been in there the previous night. Cole said that he hadn’t but Cole’s wife, Gladys, said she believed she remembered him being there.

  The car was driven on in an attempt to find the second pub, the one in which Tatum said he had met Derek. After some driving around, Tatum finally identified the Waggoners Arms as the correct one. Once again the licensee, Mrs Brooking, was asked if she could identify Tatum as a customer of hers. She stated that he had not been in her pub the previous night. She was quite sure, as there had only been four customers all night. One of those was a regular named Mitchell and he too confirmed that Tatum had not been in the Waggoners Arms.

  Tatum said that he must have been mistaken and soon picked out another pub, the Red Lion. Here Edmund Dollery, the licensee, was asked to identify Tatum but he too said he had not been in the previous evening. A search was now made for Derek’s flat, but Tatum failed to pick out the road where it was. He was then driven back to the police station for further questioning.

  Back at the station, Inspector Masters said it was obvious that Tatum was lying. Only Gladys Cole had been able to say that she might have seen him. Added to that, he had a key to Charles Barrett’s house and, since there had been no forced entry, the assailant must have had a key. Tatum thought for a few moments then apologised for lying and said that he had done so because he was shielding someone. He now wished to make another statement.

  According to this new statement, Tatum maintained that he had indeed met Trevor and Don but had originally lied to keep them out of it. The three men had been to the Bargate area together and afterwards they had all gone to Don’s where they stayed until 2.30am. Later, as Tatum had been leaving he had seen the Derek he referred to in his earlier statement, relieving himself against his car outside the Gordon Arms. After that, the rest of the original statement had been true.

  Tatum did give a little more information however. He now revealed that Don’s surname was Russell and he lodged with Don’s parents, almost opposite the Gordon Arms which was on Portswood Road. His house had a yellow door.

  Inspector Masters now drove to Portswood Road where he did find a house with a yellow door – number 96. This was the address of both Trevor Tughill and Keith Donald Russell. Statements were taken from both men and, on his return to the police station, Masters informed Tatum that he would be detained pending further enquiries.

  The following day, Tatum was informed that Charles Barrett had died and this was now a case of murder. Tatum asked for time to think and then said he wished to make another statement. In this third document he admitted that after leaving Trevor and Don he had met up with a man he knew and during the subsequent conversation, Tatum had mentioned that he hadn’t seen his wife since the previous Saturday. He suggested that they both go round to Belmont Road to visit her.

  Using his key, Tatum opened the front door and both men went inside. The house was all quiet and Tatum’s friend had a fountain pen type torch which he used to light his way upstairs after first taking the knobkerrie off the wall. The man went into Barrett’s bedroom and stole a wallet from the table by the bed. At this point Barrett sat up and Tatum headed for the door as his friend struck out with the weapon. They both then ran from the house and divided the money up once they had made good their escape. Tatum refused to name this friend, preferring he said to take the blame himself as he was the cause of all the trouble. Later that same day, Tatum was charged with capital murder.

  Tatum had claimed that after taking the money out, he had disposed of Barrett’s wallet in a hedge. At 10.15am on 18 January, Sergeant Ancill found the wallet in Spring Crescent. It could be proved that this had belonged to Barrett as it contained a receipt for £250 of Premium Bonds, which Barrett had purchased. Tatum was now interviewed again and finally admitted that the man with him, the one who had actually struck the fatal blow, was one Terry Thatcher and he lived in St Mary’s Road but he did not know the number of the house.

  Tatum was asked to give more details on the mysterious Mr Thatcher and said that they had first met at a pub in Millbrook Road about one week after Tatum had first arrived in Southampton. Two weeks before the attack upon Barrett, Tatum had seen Thatcher at the Labour Exchange as he too was now looking for work.

  Once again Inspector Masters tried to check Tatum’s story. The Labour Exchange said they had no Terry Thatcher on their books and no trace of such a man could be found anywhere around the St Mary’s Road area. In fact, no person by the name of Terry Thatcher could be found anywhere in Southampton. The conclusion was that Tatum had spun one lie after another in order to avoid the consequences of his actions and the police now believed that he had acted alone.

  Twenty-four-year-old Michael George Tatum appeared before Mister Justice Cassels at Winchester on 19 M
arch 1959. The trial lasted until 23 March and during that time, the case for the Crown was led by Mr Norman Skelhorn who was assisted by Mr Jeremy Hutchinson. Tatum was defended by Mr E S Fay, assisted by Mr Patrick Back.

  John Finn, the lodger at 11 Belmont Road, told the court that Charles Barrett had been quite security conscious. In addition to locking up the house each night, he never left windows open except for the small ventilation window which was sometimes left open a couple of inches. Finn also confirmed that it was his habit to pay the rent for his rooms each Saturday morning. Barrett always put the cash straight into his wallet and Finn identified the wallet Sergeant Ancill had found as identical to the one Barrett had owned. Finally, Finn was able to say that Tatum knew that he worked nights and that only Barrett and Mrs Tatum would be in the house.

  Dr Robert Kenneth Jackson was the house surgeon at the Royal Hants Hospital. He had examined Charles Barrett, at 9.00am on 16 January. Barrett was unconscious and almost exsanguinated. He bore a Y-shaped lacerated wound on his right forehead and had a depressed skull fracture. There was also a small, lacerated wound behind the right ear. Barrett was given a blood transfusion but remained unconscious. His condition deteriorated steadily until he finally died.

  Dr Richard Anthony Goodbody was a consultant pathologist and he performed the post-mortem on Barrett. He confirmed the wounds detailed by Dr Jackson and added that he had found an extensive depressed fracture of the right parietal, frontal and temporal bones. These had been caused by at least three blows from a blunt instrument. Dr Goodbody also stated that if Barrett had been sitting up in bed at the time of the attack, as stated by Tatum in his final statement, then the blows would have been inflicted by a left handed man. However, it was possible that they might also have been caused by a backhanded blow from a right-handed man. The injuries observed were consistent with the use of the knobkerrie, found broken into three pieces, at the scene.