Thomas Riley was born around 1881-1883 in Birmingham, the son of a bricklayer's labourer also named Thomas, who had accumulated thirteen convictions for drunkenness and assault by the age of 27. Growing up in the back-to-back courts of Allison Street, young Thomas was raised primarily by his Irish-born grandparents while his father cycled in and out of prison, eventually reaching forty-four convictions and boasting about his criminal record in open court.

By his early twenties, Thomas had followed his father's path almost exactly, finding casual work as a packer and screw worker while building a criminal record of his own. On 20th April 1903, at the age of 22, his name was formally added to Birmingham's Habitual Drunkard Register under the alias "Young Punch," a nickname believed to distinguish him from his father, known as "Punch." The register, circulated to every licensed premises in the city, effectively banned him from every pub in Birmingham.

Thomas had a daughter, also named Minnie, with Minnie Hill around 1901-1902, and the couple married at Saint Gabriel's Church in March 1905. The marriage was marked by repeated and escalating domestic violence. In June 1909, Thomas struck Minnie over the head with a dinner plate, receiving three months' hard labour. In September of the same year, he drew a table knife across her throat and cut three of her fingers, leading to a charge of attempted murder that was reduced to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. In 1913, he was described by the court chairman as "a dangerous character" and sentenced to six months for kicking Minnie and threatening to kill her and their baby.

Despite multiple separation orders and prison sentences, the couple remained together. The 1921 census records them living at 3 Fox Street, Birmingham, with their daughter Minnie, now nineteen, and two younger sons, John and William, born after the 1913 assault. Thomas was working as a bottler for Wathes Dairy Company, while Minnie worked as a charwoman at a local public house. The records end there, and the date and circumstances of Thomas's death remain unknown.