1969 | A body in the river

Discovery

David Oluwale’s body was discovered on 4 May 1969. He was found by a group of children, who had been playing in the fields around Knostrop sewage works. He was stuck, face down in the middle of the River Aire.

A police diver recovered Oluwale’s body from the river. While waiting for an ambulance, his pockets were searched for clues about his identity. The diver speculated that the body belonged to David Oluwale. He had policed Leeds city centre and remembered Oluwale, having moved him on from the shop doorways he used to sleep in.

David Oluwale’s death was recorded later that afternoon at St James’s Hospital (Aspden, 2007).

On 5 May 1969, the Yorkshire Post briefly reported that:

‘Police last night recovered the body of a man from the River Aire, Leeds. Later a Leeds City Police spokesman said: ‘He has not been identified’.

An even shorter article in the Yorkshire Evening Post linked the story to the discovery of another body in the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Investigation

There was little attempt to investigate the events leading to David Oluwale’s death. The police officer responsible for recording the death noted various injuries on Oluwale’s body. But his superintendent was determined to wait until after the post-mortem before deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation.

David Oluwale’s body was examined by a pathologist on 5 May 1969. The post-mortem confirmed a large bruise on Oluwale’s forehead. But the pathologist was unable to say whether this was inflicted before or after death. Tests designed to discover if Oluwale was alive or dead when he entered the water were also inconclusive. In the absence of conclusive evidence, the pathologist concluded that Oluwale’s death was caused by drowning.

The only further investigation carried out by the police was to request a photograph of David Oluwale’s body, but this was forgotten. Those on the case are heard talking about Oluwale’s past convictions and violent behaviour (Aspden, 2007).

David Oluwale’s identity was publicly confirmed at a coroner’s inquest on 14 May 1969. A short article in the Yorkshire Evening Post noted that the police had matched his fingerprints to those on file. Oluwale was described as ‘a 38 year old man … of no fixed address’. Following the pathologist’s advice, the coroner recorded that Oluwale had died from drowning (Yorkshire Evening Post, ‘Verdict on Man in River’, 15 May 1969, p. 2).

Forgotten

David Oluwale’s funeral took place at Killingbeck Cemetery on 4 June 1969, one month after his body had been discovered. It was attended by the cemetery superintendent and his undertakers.

Without the input of family or friends Oluwale’s funeral was defined by the items found on his body. He had a string of blue rosary beads, so was buried in the Catholic section. His name had been misspelled on a social security form, so his coffin was inscribed ‘David Oluwale Alliwala’. He had 11 shillings 10 pence in change (a little over 50p in today’s money), so this was put towards the costs of his pauper’s grave (Aspden, 2007).

David Oluwale’s funeral represents the way he was forgotten by the city. Whatever questions surrounded the events that led up to his death, there was no one willing to raise them. It was far easier to accept that Oluwale – a troubled man in mental distress – had somehow fallen to his death.