The Piccadilly Rats haven’t performed for several years following the death of their frontman Ray Boddington, who passed away after being hit by a tram in 2019.
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Tommy Trouble passed away on Monday evening at the age of 82 after suffering a seizure, his family said, following several years struggling with cancer, dementia and epilepsy.
Tributes are flooding in for the much-loved Manc icon, who will be ‘sadly missed’.
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One person wrote: “So sad to hear of the passing of Tommy from The Piccadilly Rats. He was wonderful.”
Nathan Cunningham, director of the documentary The Piccadilly Rats: Live in Moderation, described Tommy Trouble as ‘a mad, funny, loving, caring man’.
He said: “RIP Tommy Trouble. A Manc folk hero and a friend who shared his life with me for 6yrs during the making of the Piccadilly Rats Film.
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“A mad, funny, loving, caring, man. He made me laugh, he made me cry. God bless his soul as he dances with Ray in the sky.”
RIP Tommy Trouble. A Manc folk hero and a friend who shared his life with me for 6yrs during the making of the Piccadilly Rats Film. A mad, funny, loving, caring, man. He made me laugh, he made me cry. God bless his soul as he dances with Ray in the sky 🙏 pic.twitter.com/xLdu7BNpSK
Someone else wrote on Facebook: “Just read that Tommy Piggot(known around Piccadilly as Tommy trouble passed away on Monday. He was well known around market st as he was always dancing wearing a policeman’s helmet mainly outside Primark Manchester.
“He lately used to go on buses collecting an armful of free papers and distribute them around Piccadilly. I always stopped and had a few words with him and slip him a tenner. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.”
In a tribute supplied to the MEN by his family, they said: “He loved just going to town and dancing and bringing that joy to other people. That’s what he loved to do.”
RIP Tommy Trouble 🥲
The Piccadilly Rats were the best buskers in the world!
Trailer released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed all across Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The first trailer for a new romcom that’s set and filmed all across Manchester has been released.
The film, titled Finding Emily, tells the story of a lovesick musician, played by Spike Fearn, who meets his dream girl on a night out, but ends up with the wrong phone number, and so teams up with a driven psychology student, played by Angourie Rice, in a bid to find her.
Together, the unlikely duo spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
The film – which is directed by Alicia MacDonald, and based on a screenplay written by Rachel Hirons – is produced by Working Title Films, is set in the fictional Manchester City University, and is due to be distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures across the UK and internationally this spring.
The talented ensemble cast groups together big names like Minnie Driver with rising stars like Ella Maisy Purvis, Yali Topal Margalith, and Kat Ronney, as well as other established actors including Timothy Innes and Nadia Parkes.
Filming took place in Manchester between August and September 2024.
The two and a half-minute trailer has been shared with the world today, and when we say it’s a Manc film, we mean it… we quite literally lost count of how many of our city’s famous locations can be spotted in just the trailer alone.
The trailer has been released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed in Manchester / Credit: Universal Pictures & Focus Features (via YouTube)
There’s everything from Manchester Central Library and Piccadilly Records, to Canal Street and the Gay Village, the Northern Quarter, the Crown & Kettle pub in Ancoats, and even the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square featured for all to see, alongside what’ll, presumably, be dozens of other famous locations.
Oh, and not to mention, if you keep your eyes peeled when watching the trailer, you can even see a small clip of Stockport band Blossoms playing a gig in there too.
Finding Emily is set to be released in cinemas across the UK on 22 May, before it debuts in the US on 28 August.
Featured Image – Matt Squire / Focus Features
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Man jailed following series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer
Emily Sergeant
A man has been sentenced this week following a series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer.
Charles McMurray, of Satchel Close in Wigan, appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Section 18 wounding with intent, threatening a person with a bladed article, and threats to kill following a distressing incident in Wigan town centre last summer.
The court heard that McMurray arrived on Wallgate at around 6:33am on 9 August 2025 before entering a taxi office, where he stabbed two men without warning.
The victims fled, and McMurray pursued them towards the town centre.
McMurray then went on to threaten a passer‑by at Wigan bus station and held a knife to the man’s stomach. A short time later, he located the injured victims on Standishgate and assaulted one of them again. Following that assault, he chased after another member of the public with the knife shouting that he was going to kill him.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers arrived shortly after 6:50am and found McMurray in possession of the knife, before he was subsequently quickly arrested at the scene.
McMurray has now been sentenced to nine years and nine months behind bars, which police say is a ‘testament to the brave victims’ who gave their accounts.
Speaking following McMurray’s sentencing this week, Detective Constable Harris from Wigan CID, who led the investigation, said: “This was an entirely unprovoked attack which left multiple victims requiring hospital treatment. McMurray is a dangerous and violent offender who is now safely behind bars.
“Knives have no place on our streets, and we hope today’s sentence shows just how seriously we take knife crime. Our communities should feel safe where they live and work, and we are committed to tackling knife crime to ensure no family has to face their loved ones being harmed.
“It is a testament to the brave victims who not only endured this attack but had the courage to provide detailed accounts together with the impact this has had on them, that we have been able to ensure McMurray has been brought to justice.”
Daisy Jackson -
8th August 2024 
