On 22 December, 1978, Walter Taylor, only seventeen-years- old, had been to a dance at the Frodingham Community Centre. He walked towards his home in Ashby about a mile away, walking directly up Ashby Road, the main route south from Scunthorpe centre. Instead of going all the way to the T-junction at the end of the road, he cut through Jubilee Park. This is a small park alongside the St Bede’s School, at that time popular for Sunday football and with a children’s play area. Walter never reached his home in Victoria Road, Ashby. He was found early the next morning, battered to death.
He was lying on his back, and there was tissue paper around his neck; a piece of Scots pine was found close by, and it was stained with blood. Nevertheless, there is no definite proof that this was the weapon used. He had died from head wounds, however, and the pathologist had noted that the wounds could have been caused by repeated kicking. It was a terrible sight for the three steelworkers who found the body in that state.