Manchester Assizes Court heard the thrilling story of armed bank robbers from Salford who thought nothing of firing their guns at bank cashiers and policemen and how they were brought to justice. John Foley aged 23 who was living in lodgings at Browning Street, Pendleton and the magnificently named, Bartley Iago aged 26 who was living in lodgings at, Bury Street, Pendleton were charged with stealing £244 from The Manchester and Liverpool District Banking Company and shooting at Samuel Watson and Jack Bradley with intent to murder. The court heard that on July 18th Foley who was carrying a bag hailed down a taxi cab on Long Millgate, Manchester and asked to be taken to Crumpsall, as they approached a nearby bridge, three men stood in the road and halted the cab, got in and demanded to be taken to Heaton Park Station. At the station they noticed a police constable on duty and then told the driver to take them to Prestwich Bank, they stopped outside the bank and the four men got out, but Foley stayed with the driver, he then noticed that all four men were carrying revolvers. The three men went into the bank and one discharged his pistol into the ceiling, no doubt to gain attention, Mr Pimlott the bank manager was ordered at gun point to hand over the keys, two men then jumped over the counter and removed money from the tills and demanded to know where there was more, Pimlott pointed them to another cash drawer, which they quickly emptied of all the cash. The men ran out off the bank and got into the waiting taxi and drove off, however a Mr Bradley who had heard the gunshot in the bank was standing by and decided to give chase with P.C. Murray in his van, the taxi turned onto Bury New Road but because the traffic was so heavy the men jumped out and ran up Clarks Hill. To add to the excitement Mr Bradley crashed his van into a wall, whilst giving chase he and P.C, Murray then got into the abandoned taxi and gave chase in that, they got within yards of the bank robbers when Iago started firing at them, all four men got away. Iago and Bartley were eventually arrested on July 24th, at Newton Le Willows the other two men were believed to have fled the country. The Prosecuting Council said that clothing found abandoned at the scene of the robbery belonged to Iago, also both men had left their place of employment the day before the robbery and hadn't returned to pick up wages owed to them. Iago in his defence denied the clothes were his and said that he had left his job and had walked to Bolton looking for work including calling at several farms then mentioned that he had been looking for a man called Coen who owed his landlady money, hoping to get it back and had stayed the night at a unnamed, man's house in Bolton. The Prosecutor asked Iago if he knew that the unnamed man was the President of a branch of The Irish Self Determination League, Iago denied this. The Irish Self Determination League was a political organisation which was the voice of Irish Nationalism in the UK with many of it's members being imprisoned by the British Government in 1923 at the height of the Irish Civil War. Both Iago and Bartley continued to protest their innocence but couldn't come up with one witness to say where they were on the day of the robbery and stated that prosecution witnesses had been shown photographs of the men before taking part in identity parades. After a lengthy summing up the jury found the men guilty of stealing whilst being armed, but on the charge of shooting with intention to murder, that was changed with shooting to do grievous bodily harm whilst attempting to escape. Mr Justice Acton sentenced both men to 10 years penal servitude adding that is was a most serious offence and must be met with severe punishment. He then commended Mr Bradley and P.C. Watson for their bravery on the day. A lot of unanswered questions remain, was the bank robbery a possible political act and the two men who evaded capture had fled overseas, presumably Ireland?
