The Book of Glasgow Murders by Donald M. Fraser

Author:Donald M. Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781906476045
Publisher: Neil Wilson Publishing
Published: 2011-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –– – – – – – – – – –

Gorbals & Townhead, August 1938 & November 1945

The gas-lit streets and alleys of Glasgow’s Gorbals were the breeding ground for the underbelly of society that was later to create its ‘No Mean City’ reputation. Patrick ‘Paddy’ Carraher had been born into a typical Gorbals family in 1907. He was schooled in the trades of thieving, fighting and drinking; skills and habits that were to last him a lifetime and ultimately cost him his life. His first brush with the law was in 1923 when he was arrested, charged and convicted of theft and assault. It was to be the start of a long relationship between Carraher and the authorities. By the late 1930s, with the Great Depression fading as quickly as Fascism was rising, Carraher had honed his skills to such a degree that he derived his entire income from crime. Indeed, with records being as hazy as they are, it is difficult to say if Carraher ever had a legitimate job at any time in his life.

On Saturday 13th August 1938, Paddy Carraher was standing on the pavement at Gorbals Cross, Glasgow. It was 11.15pm. As he stood there, drunk and swaying from side to side, he spotted a young girl nearby. Eighteen-year-old Margaret Nicol was waiting for her boyfriend to come along but before he did, Carraher sidled up to her and tried to strike up a conversation. From later statements, it would seem that Carraher was asking Nicol to act as a mediator between him and his then girlfriend, a Kate Morgan.

Nicol tried hard to ignore Carraher and frantically scanned all directions leading from Gorbals Cross, looking for her boyfriend. The minutes dragged out before a relieved Nicol spotted her saviour. She stepped down from the pavement and sprinted across the street and met up with James Durie, her 19-year-old beau. Carraher, in his drunken state, staggered after her, shouting and demanding that she co-operate with his wishes. Durie, shielding Nicol, threw in his opinions on the matter but before he finished his statement, Carraher grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, pushed him back against the wall of the building and produced a knife which he held at Durie’s throat. Whatever words were spoken at this time have not been recorded but when Carraher released his grip on Durie, the young man and his girlfriend ran off.

They didn’t go too far. At 163 Hospital Street, they found Durie’s elder brother, 24-year-old John, at home and they related their tale. Feeling aggrieved, the Durie brothers returned to the scene of the confrontation at Gorbals Cross. En route, they met up with 16-year-old Charlie Morgan, who was a brother-in-law of John Durie, and 23-year-old Peter Howard. Once there, Carraher was nowhere to be seen. So determined were they to confront Carraher, they hung around the area, looking for him. After half an hour, Carraher came lurching along the dark street.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.