Exclusive by Patrick Christys & Judith Hawkins
It is easy to jump to conclusions when one learns that a man has over 15 convictions ranging from witness intimidation to theft. That man is John King Aldred, 56, from Eccles.
He was portrayed as the archetypal nightmare neighbour on the BBC programme Neighbourhood Watched.
The show documented how John’s anti-social behaviour made a young, single mother’s tenancy in Brindley Close, Eccles, so unbearable that she had to be re-homed.
Yet after speaking to the enigmatic eccentric, MM found this incident only to be the tip of the iceberg.
John’s appearance is instantly striking. Despite just appearing in Manchester Magistrates Court, he was sporting his unmistakable daily attire: fluorescent yellow headband, frilly shirt, waistcoat and clutching a Gandalf-style staff.
He had just been fined £200 for breaking a bench outside the Bird In Hand pub on Liverpool Road and, in a tone that would become familiar, he was intent on protesting his innocence. Three days later he opened his front door and allowed MM into his home.
Upon entering John’s flat, the first thing that can’t be ignored is the sheer amount of clutter – and next is his ability to unashamedly blast out Smooth FM at full volume.
Plumes of smoke hung thick in the air and there was a half-empty bottle of White Lightning on the table.
John’s upbringing was far from perfect.
“My mother didn’t love me and my father was a very angry man,” he said. “I never had love, I never had a hug.”
As the oldest of four siblings, he bore the brunt of his father’s aggression; John was beaten terribly from the age of six.
It was upsetting to listen to John defending his father despite the level of abuse he suffered at his hands.
John views him simply as a man who was himself unloved as a child and did not know how to show discipline without resorting to brutality.
When questioned about his many convictions, John asserted that the worst punishment he has ever received was his ‘life sentence’: the circumstances into which he was born.
Taking this into consideration makes it easier to understand why John acts in the way that he does. An upbringing devoid of rules and laws created a man who lives entirely by his own moral code, one that is completely at odds with that of society.
It was his father who taught him how to be a relatively successful thief and John revels in the fact that he can pilfer anything from groceries to scrap metal, although he is adamant that this is all in the past.
As he got older he began to experiment with drugs, specifically cannabis. There is a glint of gleeful remembrance in his eye as John recalls the first time he ever used the drug in the toilets at his school, Winton High, at just 14.
He was promptly sick and sent home by the school nurse. It is safe to say that the drug no longer has the same effect on him.
It is at this point that another man enters John’s living room. Matty, a long-term friend, is keen to portray John in a positive light.
“John’s the Robin Hood of Eccles,” he said. “He’s got a heart of gold and he’ll help anyone out.”
AT HOME: John rolls up a cigarette while his dog sleeps soundly, ignoring the music
It transpires that John regularly provides a place to stay for people who have fallen on hard times; his ‘lodgers’ as he calls them.
Indeed, such is the regularity with which John accepts these people into his house that he states with great conviction: “I’ve kipped on the couch since ’89.”
The assortment of pillows and sleeping bags behind his chair would appear to verify the claim.
He has been threatened with eviction numerous times for illegally allowing various vagrants to reside in his flat, but that does not deter him. He lives by his own moral code, of course.
The notion that John is a Robin Hood figure in the Eccles community stems less from taking from the rich and giving to the poor, but other ‘random acts of kindness’.
He can be seen regularly picking up litter and even dog faeces in an admirable attempt to keep the area clean.
It is fair to say that John has not always had the best of relationships with the other tenants in the Brindley Close tower block.
During the 20 years John has resided in his flat several tenants directly below have come and gone, all citing his anti-social behaviour and persistent noise pollution as the reason for their departure.
The Blears family lived below John for a number of years, and during that time they made several complaints to the police. Some of those complaints resulted in John being charged and remanded in custody for allegedly disturbing the peace, assault (apparently using his aforementioned Gandalf staff as a weapon) and subsequent witness intimidation.
All of these charges are strenuously denied by John, despite the fact that he was found guilty in court.
THE ROBIN HOOD OF ECCLES: John is known to pick up the faeces of other dogs
in a bid to keep the local area clean
MM asked about the more recent instance of a young, single mother being fast-tracked into new accommodation because John’s behaviour meant that Brindley Court was not a suitable environment for her to raise her young child.
Rather than denying the claims, John simply made a cutting remark towards his former neighbour.
When we asked him about his music, which had been blaring throughout the interview, John was adamant that he always kept the volume to a reasonable level.
However this claim was somewhat undercut when, upon being complimented on the size of his speakers, the self-proclaimed ‘Christian crusader’ said: “Yeh, you should hear it when I put my own music on and crank it up, mate.”
Given the sheer number of times that John has fallen foul of the law it seemed reasonable to ask if he bears any grudges with the local police.
“No, that’s not in my nature. Besides, I go for a drink with my jailors every Sunday anyway,” he said.
Despite his anti-social behaviour in his block of flats, fellow resident Ann Green, 58, has known John for 20 years and only had good things to say about him.
“John’s a good guy,” she said. “He likes to play his music loud but so does everyone around here.”
Unbelievably, given that he was in court last week for destroying a bench outside the Bird In Hand pub in a fit of violent rage, the daughter of the landlord, Tanith West, 22, was also not about to speak badly about Eccles-own Robin Hood.
“John is welcome back in here any time,” she said. “He’s what you’d call a good regular.”
It is clear that, even though it may be for all the wrong reasons, John is a local legend around Eccles.
MM concluded the interview by asking him what he thought the future held for John King Aldred.
“Well, who knows? I’m at peace now, and that’s the main thing.”
Peace. Well his neighbours must be pleased.
First image courtesy of BBC via YouTube, with thanks.
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