Manchester Pusher
A canal in Manchester city centre
Date2004[1] / 2007[2] to date
LocationGreater Manchester,[3] including surrounding towns such as Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan[3]
CauseUnknown
Casualties
86+[3]

The Manchester Pusher is the name given to a hypothetical serial killer, or individual, alleged to be responsible for the deaths of a number of people whose bodies have been retrieved from the waterways (principally the canals) of Greater Manchester since at least 2007.[4][5] Proponents of the theory claim that the "alarming" number of deaths to have occurred in the Rochdale, Ashton and Bridgewater Canals since the early 2000s cannot all have occurred as the result of accidents or suicides, and must have involved some element of foul play.[1] Between 2008 and 2016 alone, 60 deaths were recorded in Greater Manchester's canals.[6][7]

Greater Manchester Police have for years attempted to dispel the myth of the 'Manchester pusher', and offered alternate explanations for the numbers of deaths, however the theory of the pusher "often returns".[2] In 2018, Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester's city centre spokesman, dismissed the theory of a 'Manchester pusher' as an urban myth, adding "It [..] will never die, and any time there's an incident or accident it comes up again. I think it causes distress to the families that have lost their loved ones".[2]

History

According to a 2018 BBC News article, the origins of the Manchester Pusher story can be traced back to a Daily Star Sunday article from January 2015,[3] in which Professor Craig Jackson, head of psychology at Birmingham City University, concluded that "It (was) extremely unlikely that such an alarming number of bodies found in the canals (could be) the result of accidents or suicides", and that it was "entirely possible" that a canal killer or "gay slayer" was the cause for at least some of the deaths. By the time of the article's publication in 2015, Twitter users had already given the alleged canal killer the hashtag #thepusher.

Several commentators have agreed that if such an individual exists, they may be purposefully targeting young men, gay men, or men they believe to be gay,[1][6] noting that certain towpaths along Manchester's canals have traditionally been used as gay cruising areas.[8] Greater Manchester Police however have refuted these claims, stating that there is nothing linking the deaths.[9] In 2016, Detective chief inspector (DCI) Pete Marsh was instructed to re-investigate all the deaths, searching for possible linkages amongst them.[9] Marsh reported that he "did not believe young men or those that were gay made up the majority of the deaths", adding that he believed many of the individuals may have simply been drunk and fallen in accidentally.[9]

Cyclist attack

On 10 April 2018, a 34-year-old cyclist was knocked into the Bridgewater Canal at 10:00 p.m. by an unknown assailant near Old Trafford football stadium, who proceeded to kick the cyclist back into the water as he attempted to get out.[2] The assailant subsequently sprinted away from the scene, and the cyclist was able to get back onto land.[10] The incident revived rumours of the pusher, and Greater Manchester police said they were looking for the suspect, said to be "a white male aged between 20 and 40".[2] Andy Sutcliffe, Greater Manchester Police's Chief Inspector, stressed at the time that there was "...no evidence to suggest that this is linked to any other incidents and we've had no further reports."[10] The story made the news as far away as New Zealand.[10]

Possible explanations

David Wilson, the chair of the Manchester Water Safety Partnership, was quoted in 2018 as saying that he suspected that a significant number of the canal deaths were alcohol-related.[3] Other commentators have noted the fact that many bar owners in the city are keen to capitalise on the attractive waterside setting that the city's canals present, which poses a dangerous combination in the dark after people have consumed too many drinks. Barriers have been installed at certain points along the canal edge to prevent people from accidentally falling in.[3][11]

Documentary

In 2016, Channel 4 released a documentary investigating the myth entitled Manchester's Serial Killer? by filmmaker Darren Lovell.[6][10][12] In 2018, before the documentary was aired on Channel 4, Greater Manchester Police released their own video response on their YouTube channel in which a senior detective again rebutted the claims that the pusher was at large.[13]

See also

  • Colin Ireland (1954-2012), British serial killer known as the 'Gay Slayer'

References

  1. 1 2 3 Glendinning, Amy (25 August 2015). "'The Manchester Pusher is real': Author claims there is a serial killer stalking city's canals". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Halliday, Josh (15 April 2018). "'Manchester pusher' fears revived after man hurled into canal". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Box, Dan (5 September 2018). "Manchester Pusher: Does a serial killer haunt the city's canals?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. ↑ Collins, David; Wood, Vincent (11 March 2018). "Spectre of 'Manchester Pusher' lingers as 76 fall victim to death-trap canals". The Times. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Scheerhout, John (6 June 2018). "'The Manchester Pusher': Relatives of canal death victims raise claims of serial killer in TV documentary". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Killalea, Debra (19 January 2016). "Manchester's Serial Killer? Documentary examines canal deaths". news.com.au. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  7. ↑ Glendinning, Amy (19 January 2016). "Canal deaths in Manchester mapped". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  8. ↑ Glendinning, Amy (27 January 2014). "Proposals to close city centre gay cruising area the Undercroft 'could move problem elsewhere'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Glendinning, Amy (25 August 2015). "Manchester canal pusher: GMP rubbish serial killer claims saying there is nothing linking the deaths". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 (staff writer) (15 April 2018). "Cyclist's narrow escape revives fears of Manchester 'canal pusher' serial killer". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  11. ↑ (staff writer) (15 July 2019). "Manchester canal deaths: Barriers installed to prevent future drownings". BBC News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "MANCHESTER'S SERIAL KILLER?". britesparkfilms.com. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Scheerhout, John (6 June 2018). "Police publish 'serial killer myth' YouTube clip hours before Pusher documentary is broadcast". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
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