Harry Mascall was a drunken groper and a regular drinker at The Red Lion hotel where Ivy Tilsley and Edna Gee took Elsie Howard for a girls’ night out in January 1972 to cheer her up after Alan had left her. Harry was instantly attracted to Elsie and tried to chat her up but she repulsed his advances. Ivy also complained that his usual behaviour to her at the bar when she was getting drinks was getting worse and verged on the obscene. Barman Fred got rid of Harry by telling him that Elsie’s husband was inside jail, thereby hinting that there might be trouble if he didn’t stop pestering her.