Can you help researchers crack this cold case?

It is believed the man attended Knebworth Festival before his death

People from Rochdale and Middleton are being asked for their help with an investigation into a man’s death 45 years ago.  

The man, whose name may have been James Brennan, and is believed to have had ties with the Irish community in Middleton, died in 1975 after being hit by a car, days after attending the Knebworth Festival.

The Locate International agency aims to solve 'cold cases’ through the use of the internet and social media - which obviously weren’t available to police in 1975. The team has scoured the internet to piece together what may have been the last movements of 'James Brennan'.

The international police agency Interpol took part in the investigation at the time, but they drew a blank, and now Locate International hopes people will come forward to complete the jigsaw. Clues to the identity of the man - who was aged between 25 and 35 - have been pieced together over months of research.

Locate has discovered that police spoke to a man of a similar description on the evening of 9 July, and he gave them the name “James Brennan.”

He told them, in an Irish accent, that he was from Sarah Street in Middleton and had left home on 4 July to attend a pop festival. It is believed that may have been the Knebworth Festival due to the dates. The event at Knebworth on 5 July was huge, with wartime Spitfire aircraft swooping low over the stage as Pink Floyd played. 

It is thought that the man who may have been James Brennan set off for home in the north of England sometime after the music finished. But he was found dead three hours after police had spoken to him beside the main road north from the festival, the A508 which links Milton Keynes and Market Harborough, having been struck by a car.

He had a T-shirt with musical instruments on it which may have been bought at the festival, and wore plaid trousers and brown boots with platform heels and soles. He had a few coins and a stamp in his pocket, as well as a lino-cutting knife.

Researchers want to hear from anyone with any information that might confirm the man’s identity and help his family find out what happened to him. The man was white and of slim build, with brown eyes and long dark hair. He was last seen in Great Oxenden, Northamptonshire.

Investigations suggest that he had possible links in Middleton, and may have had family and/or friends in or around Sarah Street.

Anyone with information on 'James Brennan' should contact Locate International at investigations@locate.international or on 07410 889091.