Caryl Phillips - Foreigners

The Stack family were immigrants from County Cork, and Mick's older brother Willie had already enjoyed a relatively successful career as an international amateur. They were a plain-speaking, working-class family, and it was the sister, Mary Theresa Stack, who really attracted Randy's attention. As he had begun to climb up the amateur ranks he had started to spend more and more time with Mary, looking to create with her the kind of domestic safety and comfort that was missing from his own turbulent upbringing. However, Mary Stack had grown up with two tough brothers, and she had learned how to raise her own voice and make clear what her own needs and demands were. In short, Mary Stack was no pushover, and while Randy may have intimidated some of the men and boys of Leamington Spa, Mary Stack had her own ideas on what she wanted and how she expected to be treated.

On 17 March, 1945, while still an amateur and on leave from the navy, and during his preparations for his first ABA final, seventeen-year-old 'Licker' Turpin was discovered in his mother's home collapsed on a sofa having clearly drunk some liniment. Beattie knew that her son had recently had a row with his girlfriend Mary Stack, but she tried not to get involved with his relations with girls. Beattie preferred to adopt the 'boys will be boys' philosophy and trust that in time all three of her lads would find themselves a nice girl and settle down. However, her youngest son was not only the most headstrong, she knew that he was also the most emotionally vulnerable. Seeing him lying semi-conscious on her sofa set off alarm bells that had been primed for years and she quickly called the doctor, and while she waited for his arrival she tried to revive Randy. Once the doctor arrived he realised that the patient was incapable of answering any questions and so he called an ambulance and had the young lad dispatched straight to the hospital. Questions as to how this 'accident' had occurred could be asked later.

Turpin was treated at Warwick Hospital, where they immediately pumped his stomach. However, once 'Licker' was left alone he sneaked out of the ward in his pyjamas and made his way back to his mother's house. The police soon arrived at Beattie's place to question her youngest son, but Turpin had once again 'escaped' out of a back window and into the night. After a short search, he was found hiding in a telephone box. Under interrogation 'Licker' admitted to the police that he had intended to kill himself by ingesting the liniment — 'I was fed up. That's why I took it.' The problem with his testimony was that prior to the Suicide Act of 1961 self-murder was a crime, and anyone who attempted and failed to kill themselves could be prosecuted and imprisoned. Irrespective of how depressed the young fighter might have been after a row with his girlfriend, he had, in fact, committed a serious offence. The following day he was charged at Warwick Magistrates' Court and remanded to appear the next week.

The few days' delay was absolutely crucial in terms of preparing a defence for the young fighter. His solicitor insisted that the first thing Turpin should do was to deny that there had been any intent on his part to commit suicide, and thereby effectively retract his confession. Thereafter, character witnesses were called to testify to the lad's stability and good nature. His former employer relayed how sorry he had been to lose young Turpin to the navy, while a representative from the Boys' Club insisted that success had not really spoiled the town's most promising sportsman. An officer from the Royal Navy, who travelled all the way from Portsmouth, was perhaps the most persuasive voice of all. He claimed that during his short service as an assistant cook, the young man had proved himself both reliable and modest. Furthermore, the boy was due to fight at Wembley in the ABA championships at the end of the following week. It made no sense that he would deliberately attempt to commit suicide when he had the whole world at his feet, and a bright and promising future before him. Mary Stack was neither called nor was she present in court, but despite the gravity of the situation Turpin felt at ease, for the pair of them had patched up their disagreement. Weighing all possible options, the bench decided that leniency was in order and, having issued a stern warning to Turpin, they bound the young fighter over to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years.

Two years later, in 1947, Randolph Turpin married Mary Stack. They were both teenagers, but their relationship had endured for some years and despite occasional irrational outbursts of emotion on both sides, to most locals they appeared to be well suited. After all, they had both grown up as 'outsiders' in the same town, they had many friends in common, and both families were familiar with each other. The Turpin-Stack white wedding took place at Leamington Spa's Catholic Church out of deference to the bride's family's beliefs, but Randy was so befuddled by the details of the ceremony that when the priest placed a small stool before him at the alter, he shifted it behind him and sat down. This caused his brother Jackie, who was seated in the front pew, no end of laughter, but Mary and her family were not amused. The priest took charge of the situation and leaned forward and whispered to the squatting bridegroom, 'You kneel on it.'

How well Randy and Mary were actually suited to each other was something that others, including Turpin's brothers, had their own ideas about. There was only one way of doing things to Randy's mind, and that was his way, and this had always been his modus operandi since he was a small child. However, as most people know, marriage involves both compromise and accommodation of the other person's views, but whatever else Randy felt for young Mary, he was sure that her first duty was to obey him. She soon became pregnant, and a son, Randolph Junior, was born in 1948, but by this stage things between the newly-weds had become increasingly ugly. Mary had already left her husband on a number of occasions, and fled back to her mother's house alleging assault and abuse. In June 1948, following a flare-up between Turpin and his mother-in-law, Mary left yet again and this time took a job at the local Marlborough Hotel, claiming that as far as she was concerned her marriage was over. After his wife's departure, training for professional fights, with all the focus and intensity that is necessary for success at this level, became increasingly problematic for Randy. He could dominate in the boxing ring, but outside of the ring he appeared to be just another voice among many to whom his wife seemed to pay attention. George Middleton and Randy's brothers worried that these days so much of 'Licker's' emotional energy seemed to be being spent trying to control Mary. It concerned them that perhaps this marriage might eventually cost him his boxing career, but they chose not to say anything to 'Licker', for any criticism was likely to be met with either silence, or abuse, or both.

A month later, on 12 July, 1948, Mary and Randy reconciled and she moved back into the family home on Wathen Road in Warwick. Her mother and her brothers, Willie and Mick, were disappointed with her decision, but they knew full well that their sister was as headstrong and difficult as any man and there was little point in arguing with her. Obviously it was her wilful personality that had, in the first place, attracted Turpin to Mary, however, as is so often the case, the very thing that drew him close to her eventually grew to frustrate him the most. Less than a month after their reconciliation, on 9 August, 1948, Turpin was summoned to appear at Warwick Magistrates' Court where Mary claimed that on 24 July he had viciously beaten her and caused her actual bodily harm. According to Mary's testimony, on that day the couple had attended a funfair in Leamington, but Mary had decided to catch an early train back to Warwick at 9:35 p.m. She then waited up for her husband to return, but she became increasingly concerned by his late arrival. According to her testimony, her husband eventually rolled in at 5:30 a.m, and when she asked him where he had been he took up a broom and beat her with it until the handle broke. Screaming that he should stop hitting her for she was pregnant with another child, his wife claimed that Turpin then began to kick her repeatedly in the stomach saying that he would 'soon fix that'.