| A mock execution in 1870 went horribly wrong, but the accused never stood trial, dying at sea instead as he tried to escape justice. Joe Tyler was landlord of the Black Horse pub, situated near Mann Island. Tyler styled himslef as 'King of the Dock Road' and any thieves found to be operating on his patch were either made to hand over half their takings or were turned in to the police. At 4am on a January morning, 13 year old John Peters was caught breaking into Tyler's pub. He was tied up and threatened with a revolver until he was told who had put him up to the burglary. After initially denying everything, he admitted a man with a beard, moustache and mole on his face had done so. At that moment the police arrived and took Peters away, with Tyler receiving a warning not to take the law into his own hands. The description the boy had gave fitted that of Bob Woods, a local caretaker.The next night he came into the oub and was promptly taken into the cellar by Tyler and his mob. At the Kangaroo Court a blindfolded Woods was sentenced to death. This was a common trick of Tyler, as a wet mop would be handed to him while the watching crowd pretended to be horrified. As the mop was brought down onto Woods, there was laughter but on this occasion the victim remained motionless, having died from shock as a result of a weak heart. Two the gang turned police informant as Tyler himself went on the run. Peters then said he had made up the story about a bearded man with a mole for fear he'd be killed. Tyler managed to board a ship, the City of Boston, bound for New York under an assumed name. He met his death here however as the vessel was lost at sea when it hit an iceberg on the voyage. |
| *Photographs to be added soon* |
| JOE TYLER - KING OF THE DOCK RD |