David Wilson TV - Fred Dinenage TV - Daily Mirror - Let Him Have It Chris 1991
13,957. The Derek Bentley case is one of the most tragic and staining cases in the history of our criminal justice system. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) Professor David Wilson
13,958. On the evening of 2nd November 1952 gunshots echoed around Croydon in South London. A policeman had been killed and nineteen year old Derek Bentley stood accused of his murder. But he hadn’t pulled the trigger; the culprit was actually Bentley’s friend Christopher Craig. The legendary line ‘Let him have it’ has been immortalised in the big screen and in book. But did Bentley really utter those words, and what happened to his companion, Christopher Craig? (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice & Police) Fred Dinenage’s Murder Casebook: Derek Bentley
13,959. It started out as a night of petty theft involving two teenagers. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,960. Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig stood trial for murder at the Old Bailey. They both pleaded not guilty. The punishment for murder was hanging. However at just sixteen the gunman Craig could only face imprisonment because of his age. But for Bentley aged nineteen a guilty verdict would mean death. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,961. At 9 a.m. on 28th January 1953 a crowd of around 500 gathered outside Wandsworth Prison and sang The Lord is My Shepherd and Abide with Me. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,962. Derek Bentley was hanged for a murder he didn’t physically commit. He was the first and only person in the twentieth century to be executed in Britain for being an accomplice ... Many believe this case was one of the contributing factors that led to the permanent abolition of the death penalty in 1969. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,963. The Court of Appeal quashed the murder conviction. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,964. 200 MPs Sign Plead – ‘Don’t Hang Him’. Police are called to Home Office Crowd. Bentley dies today – No Last-Minute Reprieve. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) Daily Mirror 28 January 1953
13,965. BENTLEY ... The last words that should shame British justice. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) Daily Mirror article
13,966. 2nd November 1952 Croydon, South London: the police had received a call that two youths had been seen climbing onto the roof of a warehouse and attempted to break in. (Murder Case: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) Great Crimes & Trials: Browne & Kennedy & Other Police Killers
13,967. The other boy pulled out a gun and shot Fairfax in the arm. Both Fairfax and his partner, Constable Norman Harrison, who had also reached the roof, heard the boy Fairfax had seized shout, ‘Let him have it, Chris,’ just before the shot was fired. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,968. Derek Bentley, who had been captured so easily on the roof ... was mentally slow, illiterate and prone to epileptic fits. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,969. Craig had encouraged Bentley to join him in various minor robberies. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,970. The trial was to revolve around two points: had Bentley known that Craig was carrying a gun? And had his cry of, ‘Let him have it, Chris,’ been intended to encourage him to use it? (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,971. Craig was too young at sixteen to receive a death sentence. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
13,972. Derek Bentley was hanged on the morning of 28th January. There was a large crowd of protesters. (Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
21,142. Kingswood Approved School 1951: Educationally, Derek has not been progressing. As you know his fits have been getting worse. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) Let Him Have It 1991 starring Christopher Eccleston & Paul Reynolds & Tom Courtenay & Tim Bell & Eileen Atkins & Rebecca Eccleston & Peter Eccleston & Craig Turner et al, director Paul Medak
21,143. Welcome to the underworld. I followed you from the corner – that’s where I hang out. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid. Craig to Bentley
21,144. You’re one of us. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.
21,145. They said I was sub-normal. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid. Bentley to Craig
21,146. My brother don’t want to go round with you no more. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid. Bentley’s sister to Craig
21,147. Let him have it, Chris! (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice & Gun) ibid. Bentley
21,148. Surely these actions are more consistence with asking his friend to let them have the gun back? (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice & Gun) ibid. Bentley’s brief
21,149. Bentley didn’t have a gun. He never shot anyone. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice & Gun) ibid.
21,150. These youths are not children. One is sixteen, the other nineteen. It would be idle to suggest they didn’t know what they were doing. (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid. Judge’s summing up
21,151. Did these two youths go out with a common purpose? (GBH Films & Murder Cases: Bentley & Miscarriages of Justice) ibid.