Salford Lads: The Rise and Fall of Paul Massey by Bernard O'Mahoney

Salford Lads: The Rise and Fall of Paul Massey by Bernard O'Mahoney

Author:Bernard O'Mahoney
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-12-30T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER NINE

Setting Sun

(The Chemical Brothers)

When brothers Tony, Mike and Lee Erdmann were children, their father had walked out of the family home. In time, a local man named Steve Rogers became their father figure. Although not romantically linked to their mother Patricia, he treated the brothers as if they were his own. He would take them out, offer advice and unconditional support whenever it was required. To the Erdmann's, Steve Rodgers is, without doubt, a unique and remarkable guy. Steve owned a gym, Flex 'n' Tone which is housed on the upper floor of Kingston Mill on Cobden Street, Salford. His partner in the business was Connie Howarth's father, man mountain Lenny Howarth. When Lenny died of a brain tumour in 2012, Steve gave the gym to the Erdmann brothers.

They were keen body builders and trained religiously each day. They soon became physically fit and mentally confident.

When Lee was seventeen, he had visited the Golden Gate pub on Cross Lane in Salford, where he saw Massey with five or six of the Salford Lads. There was a distinct air of menace; Massey's minions kept glaring at Lee and so he assumed that he was being discussed. Two of the men eventually approached Lee and asked him if he had a problem. Before Lee could answer, one punched him and as he fell back, they both leapt on him. Lee unleashed a volley of punches and knocked out one of his opponents, after which the other ran away. Lee sought medical assistance and learned that he had suffered a broken jaw. He underwent surgery, during which a steel plate was inserted into his jaw to strengthen and support the broken bone.

The following year, Lee was shot in the face during a disturbance with members of the Gooch gang outside a nightclub in Manchester. The bullet struck the steel plate, ricocheted and lodged in his neck. One of his friends, who went to help him, was shot in the leg. Both men were taken to hospital, but both refused to assist the police.

Lee's fighting prowess and refusal to back down earned him as many friends as enemies in Salford. The latter feared him, which meant that if they were to move against him, inevitably they would be armed. On Sunday 11 September, 2011, Lee had left home early in the evening to go drinking. He was mourning the loss of his baby daughter. Jessica was just four- months-old when she had been found dead in her cot, and it was the anniversary of her passing. Lee arrived home later that night, but couldn't settle and so he said to his partner Paula that he was going out again. He'd been told that the nearby Wellington pub was hosting a late-night old-school disco.

At 1.45am, Lee left home in a taxi and was dropped off at the venue. He arrived at 2am and banged on a locked rear door. A patrolling policeman watched as the door opened and Lee was greeted by the landlord Jimmy Danson.



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