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THE TRAGIC TRIO Online news at www.grimsbylive.co.uk

Struck down one by Second arrest in Shaun

Lyall murder investigation

one, the friends all

A 44-YEAR-OLD man was
arrested on Thursday night in
connection with the murder of
Shaun Lyall.
The man was arrested at a
house on Rutland Street,
arrested in connection with the
death of Shaun Lyall at an
address in Rutland Street,
Grimsby.
“We’re continuing to conduct
further enquiries and our teams

fell victim to addiction

The story of Michael, Jamie and Shaun started with a trip to the Odeon
in Grimsby in 2004. Fourteen years on, all are victims of tragedy - first
overdose, then suicide and now murder
By Keane Duncan
keane.duncan@reachplc.com
THREE men dead. Three ordin-
ary blokes snared by seem-
ingly-unconnected tragedies.
Michael Collins, Jamie Walsh
and Shaun Lyall set out on their
quest to Middle-earth together
on January 7, 2004.
But 14 years on from their
planned visit to watch an install-
ment of the Lord of the Rings
trilogy, all three are now dead.
Unknown to the three young
lads, drugs would thrust them
into their own trilogy of
The former Odeon on Freeman Street.
adversity and misfortune.
Michael overdosed, Jamie com-
mitted suicide – and on Tuesday,
the last survivor was murdered
in his home.
Struck down one by one, the
friends all fell victim to the
powerful allure of drugs and now
stand out as tragic symbols of
Grimsby’s addiction culture.
1. Overdose
This 14-year-long tale of tragedy
started with a pre-cinema ren-
dezvous at Michael’s flat on
Alexandra Road in Cleethorpes
on a chilly January morning in
2004.
The plan was to shoot-up £10
bags of heroin together before
heading out to watch the latest
blockbuster at the Odeon on
Freeman Street.
Feeling tired after his heroin
hit, Michael decided to stay at
Carol told the inquest her
“sensitive and respectful” son’s
suicide bids were public cries for
help and warned: “The drug cul-
ture is unreal.”
But despite hopes Michael’s
overdose would act as a harsh
warning to vulnerable others,
she was sadly ignored by his
closest friends.
Michael was their seventh
friend lost to a heroin overdose,
but it seems not even an eighth
addition to that sobering stat-
They also found drug
paraphernalia, including foil,
cut-up freezer bags, weighing
scales and lists of known drug
users. Walsh repeatedly told
police that the heroin was for
personal use to relieve pain
caused by a car crash – but a jury
found him guilty and he was
jailed for three and a half years.
Recorder Peter Babb, senten-
cing, told Walsh at the time:
“Dealing heroin in the way that
you do brings misery to a large
Tragic Shaun
Lyall was a fan of
Frederick
Forsyth and JRR
Tolkien.
ous circumstance. I feel it is
important that we don’t judge
people as we never know a per-
son’s background or circum-
stances.”
Jamie’s burning desire to
“change lives” led him to find
faith in Hull-based Selby Mis-
sion after his release from pris-
on. The Hull-based mission
helped him find a new home and
way of life, and he started to help
others facing problems. But he
never managed to evade his own
in his Cleethorpes terraced
house, the police hunt for his
killer continues.
Rumours about Shaun’s links
to the drug underworld domin-
ated the idle chit chat of neigh-
bours who gathered to watch as
CSI officers probed his Sidney
Street home.
They recalled men “coming
and going” and said the street
had been ripped apart by
“junkies and bandits”.
In the years since that poignant
and fateful cinema visit, insights
into Shaun’s life can be gleaned
from court reports.
Between 2009 and 2015,
our archives reveal Shaun
offended again and again,
shoplifting cheese, deodorant
and joints of beef from super-
markets.
His address changed with
every court appearance, some-
times he had no fixed abode and
he was often listed as claiming
benefits.
After being found in possession
of heroin wraps in 2013 and 2014,
he was ordered to undergo treat-
ment at Addaction.
But he missed his escape
opportunity, and just months
later returned to the courts after
failing to comply with his pro-
gramme.
A spate of thefts landed him
with a 14-week jail spell in April
2015. Then, he disappeared from
our reports until Wednesday’s
front page news story announ-
cing his murder.
Grimsby. will remain on the scene.
Mr Lyall, 47, was found dead at “The 33-year-old woman
his home on Sidney Street, arrested remains in custody.”
Cleethorpes on Tuesday night. The arrests come as Detective
The 44-year-old is the second Chief Inspector Stewart Miller
person arrested in 24 hours in appealed again for anyone with
connection with Humberside information to come forward.
Police’s murder inquiry. He said: “We have had a
Carol Collins warned of an 'unreal drugs A 33-year-old woman arrested number of calls providing key
culture' - but it was ignored by her son's on Wednesday evening remains information about Shaun’s death,
best mates. in custody. he was clearly a well-liked man
Officers could be seen guarding and people are coming forward
the front door of a Rutland Street
house as CSI officers examined
with lots of information.
“I would ask for anyone who
rooms inside. They left the scene has not already contacted us to
at 10.24pm. call us as a matter of urgency, you
listened to The Stone Roses, A spokeswoman for may have important information
Janis Joplin and Bob Marley. Humberside Police said: “A that could help us find out what
For now, we can only continue 44-year-old man has been happened to Shaun.”
to wonder how and why Shaun’s
life came to a tragic end at the
age of 47.
But what we do know for cer-
tain is that despite his flaws, the
man known to most as “Jabba”
will be missed.
A poignant tale
An innocent cinema trip on a
Wednesday morning back in
2004 ushered in more than a dec-
ade of turmoil. Jamie transformed from innocent user
into dangerous dealer.
This youthful snapshot in time
would eventually unravel into a
terrifying spiral.
Their stories share amazing
parallels not only with each
other, but with thousands
already lost and thousands still
struggling, in Grimsby and up
and down the country.
Fraught with demons,
struggles, phobias, illness and
insecurities, they each turned to
drugs to numb the pain.
But despite any ephemeral
comfort, their stories show how
Class A drugs eventually – one
way or another, somehow –
ripped apart their lives.
Their tragedy also shows how
things could so very easily have
turned out differently.
It shows how escape opportun-
ity after escape opportunity –
Wednesday's front page appeal to find
Michael’s mum’s warning, the
Shaun's killer.
judge’s stern words, God’s help
or Shaun’s chance of rehabil-

home alone while Jamie and
Shaun headed out in a taxi
without him at 11.30am.
They returned from the film at
3.30pm to discover Michael lying
unconscious on his back.
Despite his friends’ frantic
efforts to resuscitate him, the
32-year-old became the first and
youngest of the trio to fall victim
to the peril of drugs.
But behind his drug abuse lay a
history of troubles. “It was a
coping strategy,” his mum Carol
told the inquest into his death.
Michael suffered a nervous
breakdown in his 20s, grappled
with his social phobia and had
attempted suicide four times.
istic could deviate them from
powerful temptation.
2. Suicide
Over a decade later, life-long
addiction pushed the second vic-
tim Jamie Walsh to take his own
life aged 42 in September 2014.
Many bags would follow that
very early £10 bag in Michael’s
flat, and Jamie would eventually
transform from innocent user to
dangerous dealer.
In July 2012, a police raid of
Jamie’s Rowston Street home
uncovered over 18kg of heroin
with a street value of £900.
number of people, not only the
addicts, but the families of these
people.”
But looking back now, it is clear
Walsh was a victim himself, and
had suffered his own personal
“misery”. His sister Liza
remembered Jamie as a “love-
able rogue” and a “magnetic
character”.
She said: “We all thought he
was going to change lives – that
was his wish. As a family we are
still struggling to come to terms
with how he went.
“Addiction is not something
people always choose, it is an
illness that can stem from vari-
demons.
As Jamie’s life spiralled out of
control, glimmers of hope briefly
shone through before sadly
always disappearing behind a
powerful cloud of temptation
and mental illness.
He would never see the Selby
Mission set up a recovery pro-
gramme in his memory – a leg-
acy that may help others find the
road to recovery he never quite
managed.
3. Murder
On Tuesday, Shaun Lyall became
the trio’s final victim. Murdered
Despite a life struggling with
drug abuse and criminality, his
tragic death unleashed an out-
pouring of grief and memories
from family and friends – just as
the deaths of his two dead pals
had too.
His sister Kim and Eve said the
family were in a “trance” as they
recalled their brother’s crazy
stories and “life philosophies” –
on Vikings, space and religion.
It became clear that drugs did
not dominate his life to the
extent of any interest or cul-
ture.
He read JRR Tolkien and thrill-
er writer Frederick Forsyth, was
a keen Grimsby Town fan, and
“
itation – withered away and
drugs gripped on.
But most importantly, it illu- Addiction is not something
minates deeper character
behind the “junkie” nickname –
people always choose, it is
a love of God, fond family an illness that can stem
memories and deep life philo-
sophies that show we may often
from various circumstance. Coming Soon to BATG
too quick to generalise and ste- I feel it is important that Exclusive Skincare VIP Membership
reotype.
Charting the lives of our trio
we don’t judge people as Free Treatments –
weaves a poignant tale flowing we never know a person’s Discounts – Huge Benefits
from youthful experimentation background or
into dark dependency, missed
chances of redemption, and circumstances. Unit 5, Lancaster Court, Lancaster
then, time after time, on to the
final crash – overdose, suicide
Lisa Walsh
Gate, Holton le Clay, DN36 5YS
and now murder. 01472 289 555