An amateurish burglary in 1950s London ends in murder. One of the men involved is a 19-year-old named Derek Bentley. Bentley has the understanding of a child – and he wasn’t the killer. But the British justice system seems determined to deliver the death penalty. The fate of capital punishment lies in the balance, and so too does the fate of Derek Bentley.
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Further reading
On Derek Bentley:
“Bentley: The Hangman’s Account.” By Albert Pierrepoint. The Guardian. 31 July 1998.
https://www.derekbentley.com/pierrepoint/wnJUL98.html
“Efforts to save Bentley Fail” The Guardian. 28 Jan 1953.
Regina v. Derek William BENTLEY (Deceased) [1998] EWCA Crim 2516. 30 July 1998.
“Efforts to save Bentley Fail” The Guardian. 28 Jan 1953.
PEELERS PROGRESS Policing Waltham Abbey since 1840 By Bryn Elliott. 2001.
“Let him Have it!” By David Morgan. Inside Croydon. 26 March 2023.
“1953: Derek Bentley hanged for murder.” BBC News.
“A Close up of the notice board, its glass front smashed” Associated Press Photo. 28 Jan 1953.
“Derek Bentley Hanged.” Australian Associated Press. 28 January 1953.
On Crime and Capital Punishment:
Firearms (Amendment) Bill. House of Commons. 11 June 1997.
“Long-Term Historical Trends in Violent Crime” by Manuel Eisner. Crime and Justice. University of Cambridge. 2003
“The Secret Executioner“. By Marcel Berlins. The Guardian. 31 March 2006
The Abolition of the Death Penalty in the United Kingdom. By Julian Knowles QC. 2015
On Lord Goddard:
Crimes of Violence. Hansard. House of Lords. 23 March 1950.
“The Last of the Tiger” Time. 1 September 1958.
“Bentley Judge Attacked” BBC News. 30 July 1998.
“A Chief Justice got away with murder” by Marcel Berlins. The Independent. 2 August 1998.
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