Bid to identify 1989 Euston death man

Published: 26 August, 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS

THIS is the face of a mystery man who collapsed and died from a heart attack on a Euston station platform 21 years ago.

His features have been recreated by a police artist as part of project aimed at identifying ­people found dead by the side of railways dating back 35 years.

The man, thought to be about 55, died on January 22 1989, at the Euston Road station. 

Although an inquest would have been carried out into his death, nobody ever came forward to identity him and police were forced to close the case.

But in the first operation of its kind, British Transport Police (BTP) and the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) are “taking another look” at 12 unsolved so-called “cold cases”, including the Euston man, in an attempt to establish their identities once and for all.

Records show he was around 5’7” with black receding hair and a distinctive tattoo on his left lower arm. The tattoo featured two clasped hands shaking under a Union Jack flag with the word “liberty” underneath.  

Detective Chief Superintendent Miles Flood from BTP said: “All these fatalities were fully investigated at the time and all clues followed up to try to establish an identity, but without success.  

“We are now taking another look to see if there is any more we can do, in some cases to see if advances in forensic techniques can help, and to appeal to the public to see if anyone recognises them.

“Some of these people may have had an itinerant lifestyle, but it is likely that there are still relatives or friends who may recognise them and thought they had simply moved away.”

The cold case review is the first of a series of similar schemes planned by the NPIA across the country. 

Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, its chief executive, said there were around 1,000 cases of unidentified dead bodies dating back to 50 years ago.

“Behind every case will be a family or friend who perhaps wants to know what happened to their loved one or bring closure to a mystery,” he added. 

Police facial imaging specialist Sharon McDonagh created the picture of the Euston man’s face from a mor­tuary photograph.

She said: “The drawing is not just a reproduction. Rather these are interpretations that highlight certain character­istics, which people who knew the person will hopefully instantly recognise.”

Anyone with any information on the picture is asked to call BTP on 0121 634 5613 quoting the drawing reference number 09.