He was small, chubby-faced, wore a pince-nez and looked like everyone’s friendly grandad. At 77 he was still repairing briefcases and other kinds of leatherwear in his Wellington Street, Leeds, shop. And it was there in the basement, on Wednesday, March 3rd, 1948, that Henry Warner was found beaten almost to death.

He was taken to hospital, where police waited at his bedside for a few words that might help them find his attacker. But he died without recovering consciousness.

A woman on a passing tram had seen two men loitering outside the shop, behaving so suspiciously that she mentioned it to another passenger. When she heard about the attack she went to the police, who appealed for the other woman passenger to come forward. She didn’t, and a promising lead fizzled out. UK Murder Stories from True Crime Library.

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