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| The Beatles at De Montfort Hall |
Around 3,000 hyper-excited fans queued
through Saturday night, some as early as the Friday night, at the Corporation
offices in Charles Street to make sure they got a glimpse of the fab four. By
7.30pm Saturday night the queue was 1,000 people in length and by 4am, when
most were tucked up in bed, 3,000 people had come out to brave the elements. It
wasn’t like a bus queue either it was almost like a mini-festival with singing,
dancing, live music and records playing, but the atmosphere would soon be
marred by chaos.
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| What they were all after - an original Beatles ticket |
The following day the Leicester Mercury
ran with the headline: “Girls Injured, Shop Window Smashed in Riot.” It all
kicked off at 9.30am on Sunday when the Corporation doors finally opened. 60 Police
officers linked their arms to create a human barrier as swarms of fans ran
forward. There was growing impatience as the anxious fans didn’t want to miss
out, and this triggered violence in the once peaceful queue. It surged
forwards, backwards, left and right as people were hurt and treasured items
were smashed. The first to get tickets were Wyggeston schoolgirls Rosalyn
Oaskley and Susan Williams and the Beatles records they took with them were
smashed in the crush.
Before the clocks struck 10am more than
20 girls had been forced out of the queue, whether squeezed out by the surge or
by bulldozing their way out for some air. At least 50 girls needed some sort of
attention, including hospital treatment for crushed ribs. Those that just
needed a coffee break did just that and then re-entered the dreaded mass of
fans for Round 2.
The pressure of the collective mass of surging
fans took its toll on a shop window as a 10ft pane of glass fell from the
Halfords shop. It would have smashed on the heads of fans below if it wasn’t
for the quick-thinking of the taller kids.
It took until 11am for some sort of
order to be restored and by midday, all the tickets had gone. The disappointed and disheartened fans left and all that remained was a window, and a huge pile of shoes, bags, cloths, chairs and
rugs.
Were you there? We’d love to hear from
you! Email us at thiswasleicestershire@gmail.com
by Matthew Sibson
by Matthew Sibson
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