A Leeds killer who fancied himself a bit of a gangster was strung up today in 1925. Lawrence Fowler went to the gallows after he, along with his mates, murdered a boxer.
Pond life
Fowler and his younger brother Wilfred (aka Wilf) were misguidedly trying to emulate the mob-like protection rackets across the Pond.
Their gang used to frequent a pub in Sheffield city centre where their resident meat-head – the brawn behind their protection racket – Trimmer Welsh started trying it on with a new barmaid one day.
This charming man
When his charms fell flat, the spurned Welsh chivalrously went to floor her instead. That’s when ex-boxer William Plommer stepped in and, of course, pummelled him to a pulp for even daring to hit a female.
This sparked fury among Welsh’s mates and to avenge his humiliation, the gang sought Plommer out the very next day, and found him chatting to a fellow boxer by the name of Jack Clay.
Needless to say, they still hadn’t quite grasped the fact that they were no match for trained fighters, so the gang naively set about laying into the two men.
Naturally, the boxers made light work of their opponents and Clay wound up beating Wilf unconscious.
Fowler play
This double whammy only served to convince the gang that they needed to get their own back on Plommer and they targeted him outside his house, this time armed with knives, chains and clubs. Faced with such offensive weapons, the boxer didn’t have a hope and he was to die of his horrific injuries.
The Fowler brothers were sent down for his violent murder and Lawrence Fowler hanged at Leeds, aged 25. His 23-year-old bruv, Wilf was hanged the day before, both by Thomas Pierrepoint.
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