alias

The Benwell Hotel certainly is(was) in Newcastle.

Yes - if anybody can help with any info on this intriguing comment we'd be very grateful! We haven't been able to find a date for his death (under either name) so we can't check newspapers at the moment.

I tried all the people with distinctive names, and struck out. Very surprising not to even turn up one death notice.

You mean crime didn't just start last week?

I have found a 'possible' in The Times, one William Hall. I will provide a transcription here and apologise for the size of my comment. I write from Australia and wonder if someone more local might be able to follow up the clues in the article to see if this is 'our man'.
Transcription:
[The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Aug 30, 1932; pg. 12; Issue 46225.].

Man Killed By Fall From A Roof: Slip When Defying Police


William Hall, lately living at Newcastle-on-Tyne, was killed by a fall from the roof of a house at Newcastle early yesterday. It was stated that the police were about to arrest him and another man for alleged attempted burglary at a near-by hotel. The other man was arrested.

At Newcastle police court yesterday, JAMES BISCOFF WHITEHEAD, 28, of Back Scotswood Road, unemployed, labourer, was remanded for a week on a charge of attempting to break into Benwell Hotel in Adelaide Terrace with intent to commit a felony.

Inspector Russell said he surrounded the building with the aid of persons living near by. Hall, the dead man, who had a jemmy, knocked off a chimney stack and threw slates and masonry on to the crowd below. In attempting to knock off another chimney pot he fell into the backyard and met his death through a fractured skull. The witness added that Whitehead jumped into the back lane and was arrested.

[Many thanks to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums for uploading these extraordinary photographs, and to the State Library of Western Australia for their research seminars and online resources].

its eraserhead !

I retouched this photo and made it into something awesome!

"Fatty" Potter? How on earth would he have scored a nickname like that!

I found 9 newspaper stories (from 1926-1932) about this fellow. Here's one: A "CAT" MAN CAUGHT -- HID IN A LIFT SHAFT -- Newcastle. Monday. - Described as "a dangerous man who could climb any wall and get to any house window", James Boyd Potter was at Newcastle today sent to prison for three months for being on enclosed premises. Sergt. Robinson found the accused hiding in a lift shaft in buildings in Bath-lane. "It was a dark night," the accused pleaded, "and the doors were open. What could you expect me to do?" -Hull Daily Mail - Monday 11 October 1926

From a year earlier: APPEAL FOR ANOTHER CHANCE -- Man Who Did Not Pretend To Be an Angel. Pleading guilty at Newcastle to two charges of theft from warehouses in which goods valued at £50 15s 9d were involved, James Boyd Potter (25), of no fixed abode, against whom was a long list of previous convictions, appealed to the the Bench for another chance. "I don't want you to think I am an angel," he said. "I have a bad record, but I came out of prison four months ago, after a sentence of eighteen months, determined to do what was right. I had not a penny and could not get work. I am willing to do anything. I have had no assistance from the parish or the "dole." Give me another chance, and if I come back you can send me to prison for as long as you like. Prison has no effect on me." Mr. C.J. Dymond (chairman) said it was difficult to know what to do with a man with a record like accused. However, they decided not to send him for trial. He would have to go to prison for twelve months. "Twelve months! And I will come out without a penny!" exclaimed accused as he went below to the cells. Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 13 November 1925

Poor tyke...looks tired and no doubt hungry.

This is it - done through need not want.

SandyEm [https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyeye] I've added the story relating to this arrest as well as for a later court appearance. It looks like hunger was definitely a factor, as you both suspected.

Thanks for that. So sad though.