South Yorkshire Times, January 24, 1970
‘Open’ and Suicide Verdicts On Mother And Son
Inquest Told Of ‘Ghost’ Of Grandmother Fears
Evidence Sketchy says Coroner
A Goldthorpe inquest jury returned open and suicide verdicts on Tuesday on a widow and her 20-years old son, who were found dead in the gas-filled bedroom of their flat in Thurnscoe last month.
Police forced their way into the room at 38a Lidget Lane, Thurnscoe, the home of Mrs Emily McGlasson and her son Michael, on December 18th, just nine days after Mrs McGlasson’s husband died, when relatives became concerned after not seeing the couple for several days.
Wardrobe
PC Anthony Blank, of Thurnscoe Police, told the inquest that a wardrobe had been put behind the bedroom door and he had to get help to force his way in.
Inside he found gas still coming from a fire, and Mrs McGlasson’s lying on the floor near the window – a position into which she appeared to have collapsed.
Her son Michael, was lying beside the bed, with his head propped up by a bag and he appeared to have taken up this position deliberately, said PC Blank.
An Apparition
A friend of Michael for the past eight months, Miss Marlene Corker, of 1, Commonwealth View, Bolton, said that about three weeks before his father’s death he had told her of an apparition which appeared at the foot of his bed and that on one occasion when he had been frightened he put the wardrobe behind the bedroom door.
Mr Robert Hooley, a miner of two, South Drive, Bolton, said that Michael, a stepbrother, tended to be nervous and seemed anxious about staying at the flat after his father’s death. Mrs McGlasson however, seem to have recovered from the initial shock, he said.
His Grandmother
A former shop assistant who had worked with Michael at the Barnburgh Lane, Co-operative shop at Goldthorpe, said he had spoken to her about the apparition and said that when he described it to his mother, she told him it was his grandmother, whom he had never seen.
“Sketchy”
In his summing up Doncaster and District coroner, Mr K.D. Potter told the jury that the evidence was sketchy and left many questions unanswered. The jury returned a verdict of suicide on Michael McGlasson and an open verdict on his mother, Mrs Emily McGlasson.