Another peep into Salford's colourful past with a look at a story from the pages of the Salford City Reporter, October 1922, when a Salford woman took offence at a fellow passenger on a tram. Sarah Helen Greenwood who resided at Robert Hall Street, Salford appeared at Salford Magistrates Church charged with assaulting Fred Barlow a discharged soldier, from Norway Street, Salford. Fred told the Magistrates Court that he and his wife took their seats on the upper deck of a tram after an evening out, where several drunken passengers were singing at the top of their voices, he told his wife that "they were in for a musical ride" One of the drunken chorus, Sarah Greenwood overheard the remark and gave him a punch in the face, breaking his false teeth, when he stood up she knocked him back down and for good measure gave Fred's wife a dig in the mouth, cutting it. Fred then went to the driver of the tram and pleaded to be let off, sadly the driver refused to stop, Sarah Greenwood had followed the pair down the tram and hit him again, the tram driver stopped her from carrying on the attack and let Fred and his wife off... the next bit made me laugh. Sarah got off with them and carried on with her attack on him, he then asked a passing Police Constable for help but he was arrested and taken to the police station were he was charged with, "behaving in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace" This charge was later dropped and Sarah was charged with assault. Sarah questioned Fred in court asking him why he he called her, "a dirty swine" and that he had hit her with his walking stick, which he denied, she then said that he had called her, "a dirty dog" and hit her with his stick, but did not retaliate. The tram guard said he saw her hit Fred three times and carried on, "battering" him after he told her to stop, two other witnesses on the tram said that they had seen Sarah attacking him, with other passengers shouting at her to stop the attack. The Magistrate fined her 20 shillings and awarded Fred a further 15 shilling for new false teeth. She sounds a bit of a live wire does Sarah Greenwood, hopefully she behaved herself on further tram journeys and that Fred got his new teeth.
