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Speaker 1: Pushkin, Derek Bentley towered over the guards pacing beside him

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Speaker 1: in the exercise yard of London's Wandsworth Prison. Derek was

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Speaker 1: broader than his warders too. He was a physically imposing

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Speaker 1: nineteen year old with the look of a weightlifter or

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Speaker 1: a boxer. The prisoner's shock of yellow hair, worn long

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Speaker 1: and combed back, as was the teen fashion in nineteen

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Speaker 1: fifty three, danced in the cold winter breeze. Occasionally, smoke

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Speaker 1: from a cigarette would blow back into Derek's eyes, making

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Speaker 1: him WinCE. But despite his bulk, a visitor to the jail,

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Speaker 1: looking down at the scene and carefully sizing Bentley up,

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Speaker 1: saw something childlike in the convict.

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Speaker 2: In his great prison clause, he looked like a schoolboy

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Speaker 2: dressed for some classroom charade.

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Speaker 1: The prison doctors agreed. Since his arrest the previous November,

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Speaker 1: they had subjected Derek to a battery of tests. The

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Speaker 1: results revealed a low IQ, a dearth of literacy skills,

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Speaker 1: and the developmental age god of nineteen but more like

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Speaker 1: that of a child of eleven or twelve. The prisoner

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Speaker 1: was deemed to be, in the parlance of the time,

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Speaker 1: borderline feeble minded. In truth. There were many things that

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Speaker 1: Derek Bentley didn't understand, but the most pressing was why

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Speaker 1: he was in prison awaiting execution. He had broken into

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Speaker 1: a warehouse, and during the course of that crime, a

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Speaker 1: policeman had been shot dead, but Derek hadn't held the gun.

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Speaker 1: Was already under arrest when the fatal shot rang out.

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Speaker 1: The murderer, a sixteen year old named Christopher Craig, had

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Speaker 1: been found guilty of the actual killing, but he wasn't

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Speaker 1: going to hang. It all confused Derek Bentley. Why was

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Speaker 1: he the one to die. Derek's family didn't think he

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Speaker 1: should hang either. The trial jury had asked for the

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Speaker 1: death penalty not to be imposed, so there seemed to

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Speaker 1: be hoped that the authorities would heed this appeal for clemency. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: so certain were the Bentless that he'd be freed, they'd

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Speaker 1: wrapped Christmas presents for Derek, a tie and a box

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Speaker 1: of chocolates, and placed them under the family tree. You

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Speaker 1: can open them when you get home, was the implication.

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Speaker 1: But as December gave way to January and the date

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Speaker 1: of his execution drew near, the man who held Derrek's

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Speaker 1: fate in his hands home Secretary David Maxwell Fife was

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Speaker 1: in no mood to show leniency. A petition by more

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Speaker 1: than two hundred members of Parliament, plus protests outside Downing

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Speaker 1: Street and government offices, and finally, Maxwell Fife's own home

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Speaker 1: hadn't yet prompted the cabinet minister to change his mind.

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Speaker 1: On the evening before his son's scheduled execution, William Bentley

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Speaker 1: led that noisy rally outside the politician's Smart London apartment.

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Speaker 3: Bentley is not sleeping tonight, said William of his boy

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Speaker 3: Anira Shall Maxwell.

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Speaker 1: What the newspapers and radio were a buzz with these

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Speaker 1: last minute moves. Political leaders, among the men who'd held

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Speaker 1: senior legal positions, beseeched Her Majesty the Queen to intervene

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Speaker 1: in a case that they said out of accord with

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Speaker 1: natural justice. So at one minute to nine on the

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Speaker 1: morning of January twenty eighth, when a well dressed man

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Speaker 1: burst into the condemned cell, Derek Bentley assumed that this

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Speaker 1: was legal counsel bringing word of a reprieve. Derek stood

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Speaker 1: to receive the good news. The two prison officers who

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Speaker 1: were his constant shadow, rose too. Then Derek noticed something

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Speaker 1: peculiar in the stranger's hands was a loop of yellow leather. Swiftly,

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Speaker 1: this was passed over Derek's wrists, finding them tightly behind

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Speaker 1: his back. The man in the suit was no lawyer.

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Speaker 1: This was Albert Pierpoint, England's chief hangman. If there was

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Speaker 1: to be a reprieve, it had better happen soon. I'm

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Speaker 1: Tim Harford and you're listening to another cautionary tale. Let's

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Speaker 1: go back three months to November the two, nineteen fifty two.

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Speaker 1: It's Sunday evening and darkness has fallen on a cold

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Speaker 1: and grizzly day. Wiser Britons would seek to be safe

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Speaker 1: beside a fire on such a night, but that wasn't

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Speaker 1: the sort of evening Derek Bentley had in mind. Instead,

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Speaker 1: he was out with his friend Christopher Craig, a sixteen

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Speaker 1: year old whom Derek called Kid or Kiddo. By rights,

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Speaker 1: Derek shouldn't have been hanging around with the younger boy

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Speaker 1: at his age. He should have been conscripted into the military,

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Speaker 1: but the authorities took one look at Derek and decided

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Speaker 1: he was too mentally substandard to complete compulsory service. Despite

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Speaker 1: his size, Derek was always thought by his teachers to

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Speaker 1: be sheeplike and timid. When truancy and petty crime landed

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Speaker 1: him in reform school, it was noted that his lack

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Speaker 1: of intelligence prevents him from joining in many of the

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Speaker 1: indoor games, and he is by no means a sportsman.

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Speaker 1: When tested, Derek's low IQ placed him in the bottom

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Speaker 1: one percent of the population. Today, someone like Derek would

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Speaker 1: be said to have special needs and would we'd hope

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Speaker 1: have those needs met. But the language used to describe

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Speaker 1: Derek back then was brutal and sympathy for him limited.

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Speaker 1: One expert pleaded that he be sent as far away

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Speaker 1: from home as possible to a school for subnormals. Derek,

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Speaker 1: who also suffered fits and seizures, fared little better in

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Speaker 1: the world of work. He took a job moving furniture,

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Speaker 1: but his back gave out. A career as a garbage

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Speaker 1: collector was also brief. Within weeks, he was demoted to

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Speaker 1: sweeping the streets and then fired Altogether mocked, rejected, and belittled,

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Speaker 1: The team then retreated to the security of the Bentley

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Speaker 1: family home. But on this dank November Sunday evening, Derek

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Speaker 1: ventured away from the warmth of the hearth to catch

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Speaker 1: a bus that would take him on a terrible misadventure.

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Speaker 1: His choice of companion was his first mistake of that evening.

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Speaker 1: Christopher Craig had ambitions to be a gangster. His older brother, Niven,

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Speaker 1: had just begun a twelve year prison sentence for a

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Speaker 1: shocking armed home invasion. Christopher had angrily watched his brother

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Speaker 1: be convicted and learned a lesson, But it was not

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Speaker 1: that crime doesn't pay. Instead, he decided that you shouldn't

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Speaker 1: ever let yourself be caught.

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Speaker 3: Still seething with.

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Speaker 1: Resentment, Christopher hopped onto that southbound bus carrying a forty

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Speaker 1: five Revolver in his pocket, a relic of World War One.

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Speaker 1: The pistol's barrel had been shortened to make it easier

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Speaker 1: to conceal. Its power and accuracy were further reduced because

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Speaker 1: Christopher had struggled to find the right ammunition. All of

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Speaker 1: the cartridges were intended for a smaller gun. Still, the

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Speaker 1: weight of the firearm in his pocket, no doubt, pleased Christopher,

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Speaker 1: making him feel like the Hollywood gangster of his phantasies,

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Speaker 1: and he'd need that swagger the job he had in mind.

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Speaker 1: The younger boy had dared Derek to join him breaking

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Speaker 1: into a local butcher's shop. Derek was already carrying a

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Speaker 1: small knife, but as their bus chugged towards their target,

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Speaker 1: Christopher gave his friend a fearsome knuckle duster too.

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Speaker 3: The robbery was a bust.

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Speaker 1: Somebody was in the butcher's shop, but Christopher spotted a

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Speaker 1: new opportunity the nearby warehouse of a candy company. Christopher

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Speaker 1: scaled its gate, hoping to break in via the roof.

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Speaker 1: Derek trailed behind. But they've been spotted. Constables from the

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Speaker 1: nearby police station qui, we had them surrounded. Perhaps more

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Speaker 1: athletic than his colleagues, Detective Constable Fred Fairfax was the

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Speaker 1: first to climb the roof via a drain pipe in

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Speaker 1: the gloom, He saw the boys scurry into hiding and

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Speaker 1: called on them to surrender.

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Speaker 3: If you want us fuck you welcome and get us,

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Speaker 3: replied Christopher.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps enraged by such impertinence, the constable rushed the burglars

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Speaker 1: and grabbed hold of Derek before the youth broke free.

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Speaker 1: It's here that eyewitness accounts differ. Derek denied shouting anything.

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Speaker 1: A version of events backed by Christopher, the other policeman

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Speaker 1: heard nothing or thought the shout came at a slightly

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Speaker 1: different moment, but Fairfax was certain as he tussled with

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Speaker 1: the hulking nineteen year old Derek yelled, let him have it, Chris.

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Speaker 1: But was Derek simply pleading for his partner in crime

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Speaker 1: to surrender the pistol he was now brandishing.

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Speaker 3: Let him have it, Chris. Or was Derek.

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Speaker 1: Channeling his inner James Cagney and growling for his friend

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Speaker 1: to open fire.

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Speaker 3: Let him have it, Chris.

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Speaker 1: Christopher's opening shot hit Fairfax, grazing his upper arm. Undaunted,

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Speaker 1: the officer grabbed Derek again and used the boy as

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Speaker 1: a shield while he ran for cover. As more officers

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Speaker 1: closed in, Christopher continued his fusal hard. He also kept

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Speaker 1: up a barrage of taunts.

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Speaker 3: Come on, you brave propers.

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Speaker 1: Think of you what I am Craig, You just give

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Speaker 1: it my brother twelve years Come on, you proppers, I'm

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Speaker 1: only sixty. Two of these coppers had made it into

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Speaker 1: the warehouse and were taking the stairs.

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Speaker 3: Up to a door leading to the roof.

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Speaker 1: Police Constable Sydney Miles kicked it open and burst out

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Speaker 1: into the night. A bullet struck him between the eyes,

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Speaker 1: killing him instantly. Cautionary tales returns in a moment. There

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Speaker 1: was widespread revulsion at the murder of Sydney Miles. This

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Speaker 1: is not England, said the vicar at Sydney's funeral, the.

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Speaker 3: England for which men and women have laid down their lives.

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Speaker 1: Sydney's coffin was topped by his police helmet and a

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Speaker 1: wreath from his wife. Officers from across the country were there.

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Speaker 1: Senior officials too, including the man ultimately responsible for law

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Speaker 1: and order, the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fife. The shooting

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Speaker 1: on that warehouse roof unnerved the nation, partly because it

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Speaker 1: was so unusual the number of times a year guns

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Speaker 1: were fired in London robberies. You could count them on

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Speaker 1: the fingers of one hand. And yes, the murder rate

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Speaker 1: was rising, but from its lowest point for centuries. After

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Speaker 1: his initial attempt to flee, Derek Bentley had meekly stood

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Speaker 1: with the police, seemingly accepting his detention, but Christopher Craig

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Speaker 1: had continued to exchange shots with armed police until his

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Speaker 1: supply of ammunition exhausted.

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Speaker 3: It flung himself from the rooftop.

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Speaker 1: Though badly injured, he survived the fall, unrepentantly telling the

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Speaker 1: arresting officer.

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Speaker 3: I wish I killed a ducking enough.

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Speaker 1: Given such violence and such brazenness, its little wonder that

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Speaker 1: some people wanted to see an example made of these

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Speaker 1: teen criminals. The topic even came up when Sir Charles Hardy,

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Speaker 1: one of the most famous businessmen of the day, lunched

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Speaker 1: with a certain Baron Goddard. The uncompromising Goddard, who basked

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Speaker 1: in the nickname the Tiger, told his dining companion that

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Speaker 1: Bentley and Craig had to be found guilty.

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Speaker 2: At all costs.

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Speaker 1: Such of you might not seem so remarkable given public anger.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty two, only Goddard was the Lord Chief

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Speaker 1: Justice of England, the most senior judge in the land,

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Speaker 1: and h just appointed himself to oversee the trial. William

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Speaker 1: Edgar Reyner Goddard seems to have been a lifelong fan

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Speaker 1: of the hangman. As a pupil at one of England's

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Speaker 1: most exclusive private schools, he was said to recite word

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Speaker 1: for word the death penalty.

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Speaker 2: The sentence of the court is that you be taken

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Speaker 2: from this place to a lawful prison, and thence to

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Speaker 2: a place of execution.

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Speaker 1: It was said to be Goddard's party piece, preferred to

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Speaker 1: telling a joke or singing a song, and.

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Speaker 2: That you may be hanged by the neck until you

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Speaker 2: be dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

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Speaker 1: As an adult, he remained an enthusiastic supporter of violent punishments,

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Speaker 1: meeting out whippings and beatings for lesser offenses and hangings

201
00:16:07,570 --> 00:16:13,770
Speaker 1: for more serious crimes. However, his elevation to the highest

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Speaker 1: level of the judiciary came at a time that such

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Speaker 1: views were being challenged. Following World War II, an election

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Speaker 1: swept the anti hanging Labor Party into power, and many

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Speaker 1: of the new socialist politicians taking their seats in the

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Speaker 1: House of Commons were young servicemen returning from war, sick

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Speaker 1: perhaps of violence. These elected politicians voted to end hanging

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Speaker 1: only for the unelected lords in the Upper Chamber, where

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Speaker 1: Baron Goddard sat, to overrule them. This sparked a constitutional crisis.

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Speaker 1: The lords weren't supposed to defy the Commons, but a

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Speaker 1: compromise was reached. A special commission would thoroughly review how

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Speaker 1: the death penalty was administered.

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Speaker 3: So thoroughly, in.

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Speaker 1: Fact, that the report would take four whole years to complete,

215
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Speaker 1: so hanging was reprieved, much to Goddard's delight. He threatened

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Speaker 1: to resign as Lord Chief Justice whenever the repeal of

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Speaker 1: the death penalty looked imminent. But with the political tide

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Speaker 1: clearly shifting against execution, Goddard thought it was time for

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Speaker 1: the justices beneath him to hand down death sentences whenever possible.

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Speaker 2: I advise all judges to harden their hearts.

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Speaker 1: The joint trial of Derrek Bentley and Christopher Craig took

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Speaker 1: place at the Central Criminal Court, London's famous Old Bailey.

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Speaker 1: The prosecution case against the sixteen year old Christopher was

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Speaker 1: clear he'd fired the fatal shot. Derek, it was argued,

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Speaker 1: was also a murderer because he had known Christopher was armed,

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Speaker 1: and furthermore, had verbally encouraged him to open fire. Derek

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Speaker 1: denied knowing anything about the pistol until it was drawn

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Speaker 1: on Detective Fairfax, but the jury was told this version

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Speaker 1: of events was almost inconceivable.

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Speaker 2: I should think you would come to the conclusion that

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Speaker 2: the first thing almost Craig would tell him if they

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Speaker 2: were going on a shop breaking expedition, was it's all right?

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Speaker 2: I got a revolver with me.

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Speaker 1: This bold statement, not backed up by any evidence, was

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Speaker 1: made not by the prosecutor, no, but by the judge,

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Speaker 1: Tiger Goddard. From the outset the seventy five year old

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Speaker 1: in his red robes and ceremonial Wig seems to have

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Speaker 1: made good on his pledge that the pair would be

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Speaker 1: found guilty at all costs. A judge's role at trial

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Speaker 1: is complex, but the bedrock of their duty is to

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Speaker 1: explain to jurors that the onus is on the prosecution

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Speaker 1: to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. But at Derek

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Speaker 1: Bentley's trial, Goddard didn't bother to explain what reasonable doubt meant.

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Speaker 1: He did mention that it was for the prosecution to

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Speaker 1: make their case and not for the defendants to prove

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Speaker 1: their innocence, but he did so in a single sentence,

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Speaker 1: adding grumply that he considered that such a reminder.

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Speaker 2: Was hardly necessary.

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Speaker 1: But don't be fooled into thinking Godard wasn't keen to

250
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Speaker 1: address the twelve men in the jury box. He was

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Speaker 1: with both defendants, denying that Derek had said let him

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Speaker 1: have it, Chris. The jury only had the slightly confused

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Speaker 1: testimony of the police witnesses to go on. Instead of

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Speaker 1: pointing out that police officers don't have some special status

255
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Speaker 1: as accurate and reliable witnesses, Goddard drew a direct link

256
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Speaker 1: between the gallantry and resolution of the constables on the

257
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Speaker 1: rooftop that night and their evidence to the court.

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Speaker 2: They were conspicuously brave. Are you going to say they

259
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Speaker 2: are conspicuous liars?

260
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Speaker 1: That's quite something for a judge to tell a jury,

261
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Speaker 1: given public outrage about the murder of a police constable.

262
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Speaker 1: Goddard's other duty was to tamp down emotions in his

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Speaker 1: courtroom and encourage the jurors to weigh the facts as

264
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Speaker 1: presented and not let any personal prejudices or feelings of

265
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Speaker 1: disgust or anger cloud their decisions. But instead, Goddard indulged

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Speaker 1: in court room theatrics of the most stunning kind. At

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00:21:08,330 --> 00:21:11,490
Speaker 1: one point, he asked for the weapons found on Derek

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Speaker 1: Bentley to be passed to him.

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Speaker 2: Where is that knuckle duster? Have you ever seen a

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00:21:19,650 --> 00:21:25,210
Speaker 2: more horrible sort of weapon? You grasp it here, your

271
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Speaker 2: fingers go through. I cannot quite get mine through. And

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Speaker 2: you've got a dreadful heavy steel bar to strike anybody

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Speaker 2: with and you can kill a person with this, of course,

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Speaker 2: it is a shocking weapon.

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Speaker 1: Goddard then held aloft small knife taken from Bentley, which

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Speaker 1: he emotively referred to.

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Speaker 3: As a dagger.

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Speaker 2: What is he carrying that with him for?

279
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Speaker 1: Godard didn't answer his own question, perhaps because one plausible

280
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Speaker 1: response is that Derek Bentley had absolutely no plans to

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Speaker 1: use the weapons. Derek was being tried an accessory in

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00:22:10,850 --> 00:22:14,970
Speaker 1: joint enterprise. It's clear that he was in a joint

283
00:22:15,090 --> 00:22:18,810
Speaker 1: enterprise with his younger friend to rob the warehouse. He

284
00:22:18,890 --> 00:22:22,410
Speaker 1: had scaled a gate and climbed atop the roof. Once

285
00:22:22,490 --> 00:22:26,370
Speaker 1: discovered by Detective Fairfax. Derek had tried to run away,

286
00:22:27,250 --> 00:22:31,890
Speaker 1: arguably in a joint enterprise, to evade arrest, but then

287
00:22:32,050 --> 00:22:37,010
Speaker 1: quickly gave up that effort. Was the joint enterprise now

288
00:22:37,010 --> 00:22:41,170
Speaker 1: at an end? Long before the murder of Constable Miles.

289
00:22:41,850 --> 00:22:45,530
Speaker 1: Though armed with a knife and knuckle duster, Derek made

290
00:22:45,570 --> 00:22:48,810
Speaker 1: no attempt to assault the policeman holding him, and as

291
00:22:48,890 --> 00:22:52,730
Speaker 1: Christopher Craig kept up his angry, foul mouth taunting of

292
00:22:52,770 --> 00:22:59,690
Speaker 1: the police, Derek stood meekly and quietly, occasionally expressing concern

293
00:22:59,770 --> 00:23:00,890
Speaker 1: for the officer's safety.

294
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Speaker 2: You want to look out, you'll blow your heads off.

295
00:23:06,850 --> 00:23:10,770
Speaker 1: When Fairfax left his prisoner's side for a moment, Derek

296
00:23:10,850 --> 00:23:14,810
Speaker 1: made no fresh attempt to bolt or rejoin his armed comrade.

297
00:23:15,770 --> 00:23:19,170
Speaker 1: If indeed Derek had said let him have it, Chris,

298
00:23:19,970 --> 00:23:22,690
Speaker 1: for those words to have earned him a guilty verdict,

299
00:23:23,130 --> 00:23:25,970
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have mattered how they sounded to the teen gunman,

300
00:23:26,370 --> 00:23:30,410
Speaker 1: nor to the police, only that Derek had intended them

301
00:23:30,850 --> 00:23:35,570
Speaker 1: as an incitement to open fire. But Derek's demeanor during

302
00:23:35,610 --> 00:23:41,570
Speaker 1: his detainment was passive and acquiescent. The teen described as

303
00:23:41,890 --> 00:23:45,210
Speaker 1: timid and sheep like all his life and with no

304
00:23:45,370 --> 00:23:49,170
Speaker 1: history of violence, might easily have meant for Christopher Craig

305
00:23:49,250 --> 00:23:53,770
Speaker 1: to surrender his pistol and accept his lawful arrest. It's

306
00:23:53,970 --> 00:24:01,930
Speaker 1: certainly a possibility the jurors should have considered. Just before

307
00:24:02,050 --> 00:24:07,250
Speaker 1: the jury retired to consider their verdict, Godard, having praised

308
00:24:07,250 --> 00:24:11,290
Speaker 1: the prosecution case Fulseoen, mocked the defendant.

309
00:24:11,930 --> 00:24:15,730
Speaker 2: Bentley's defense is I didn't know he had a gun,

310
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Speaker 2: and I deny that I said let him have it, Chris.

311
00:24:20,450 --> 00:24:23,130
Speaker 2: I never knew he was going to shoot, and I

312
00:24:23,170 --> 00:24:24,210
Speaker 2: didn't think he would.

313
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Speaker 1: The jurymen filed out to begin deliberations, ringing in their

314
00:24:31,930 --> 00:24:36,290
Speaker 1: ears an exhortation from the highest judge in the land

315
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Speaker 1: that they should use their common sense. They took just

316
00:24:44,090 --> 00:24:49,850
Speaker 1: seventy five minutes to find both defendants guilty. Christopher Craig

317
00:24:50,170 --> 00:24:54,010
Speaker 1: wouldn't hang, he was too young, and since there was

318
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Speaker 1: a precedent that if a killer didn't hang, an accomplice

319
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Speaker 1: wouldn't either, the jury asked that Derek's life be spared too.

320
00:25:03,970 --> 00:25:10,210
Speaker 1: Goddard ignored their plea and recited the death penalty memorized

321
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Speaker 1: at school. Derek would hang by the neck until.

322
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Speaker 3: Dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

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Speaker 1: The Lord Chief Justice had told his fellow judges that

324
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Speaker 1: it wasn't their job to show pity to the prisoners

325
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Speaker 1: in their dock.

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Speaker 2: For said Goddard, in other and higher hands, mercy may

327
00:25:32,730 --> 00:25:33,530
Speaker 2: be extended.

328
00:25:35,290 --> 00:25:39,490
Speaker 1: So the Lord Chief Justice, having passed a death sentence,

329
00:25:40,090 --> 00:25:43,450
Speaker 1: sat down to write a letter to a higher hand,

330
00:25:44,250 --> 00:25:50,130
Speaker 1: the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fife, the only man who

331
00:25:50,130 --> 00:25:56,330
Speaker 1: could now save Derek from the hangman's noose. Cautionary tales

332
00:25:56,330 --> 00:26:10,050
Speaker 1: will be back after the break. In the early morning

333
00:26:10,250 --> 00:26:14,690
Speaker 1: January Gloom, a crowd stood at the gates of Wandsworth Prison,

334
00:26:15,570 --> 00:26:20,690
Speaker 1: wrapped up against the cold, they sang hymns and recited psalms.

335
00:26:22,210 --> 00:26:29,130
Speaker 1: There still seemed hope for Derek Bentley, even inside the

336
00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:34,130
Speaker 1: prison where he was making his final macabre preparations and calculations.

337
00:26:34,610 --> 00:26:40,010
Speaker 1: Hangman Albert Pierpoint wasn't sure his services would be required.

338
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Speaker 2: After all, the possibility of a last minute reprieve still

339
00:26:43,930 --> 00:26:46,450
Speaker 2: hung in the air stronger than I have ever known it.

340
00:26:48,970 --> 00:26:52,410
Speaker 1: At the very heart of government there was, in fact

341
00:26:52,810 --> 00:26:56,770
Speaker 1: a mood to show mercy. The most senior officials in

342
00:26:56,810 --> 00:27:01,730
Speaker 1: the Home Office advised David Maxwell Fife to intervene to

343
00:27:01,850 --> 00:27:06,530
Speaker 1: spare Derek's life, but the Home Secretary was taking his

344
00:27:06,690 --> 00:27:08,890
Speaker 1: advice from Barn.

345
00:27:11,090 --> 00:27:16,410
Speaker 2: I could find no mitigating circumstances in Bentley's case. I

346
00:27:16,450 --> 00:27:19,810
Speaker 2: am convinced that he is a most dangerous criminal.

347
00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:23,930
Speaker 1: In his own verdict on the case, which he called

348
00:27:24,570 --> 00:27:28,410
Speaker 1: a very bad murder, Maxwell five said it would be

349
00:27:28,530 --> 00:27:32,570
Speaker 1: dangerous to let Derek live, since that might encourage similar

350
00:27:32,570 --> 00:27:38,450
Speaker 1: attacks on unarmed police. Given public anxiety about violent crime,

351
00:27:39,250 --> 00:27:46,250
Speaker 1: he decreed that Derek must hang at eight point fifty

352
00:27:46,330 --> 00:27:50,250
Speaker 1: nine a m in the condemned cell peer Point was

353
00:27:50,290 --> 00:27:54,330
Speaker 1: now standing so close to Derek Bentley that he could

354
00:27:54,370 --> 00:27:56,370
Speaker 1: talk to the boy in a whisper.

355
00:27:58,290 --> 00:28:03,890
Speaker 3: Just follow me, lad, It's all right, Derek, Just follow me.

356
00:28:07,490 --> 00:28:12,010
Speaker 1: Peer Point had conducted hundreds of executions and found that

357
00:28:12,130 --> 00:28:17,290
Speaker 1: moving quietly and calmly but at speed encouraged compliance from

358
00:28:17,290 --> 00:28:22,210
Speaker 1: the condemned. He feared that if Derek resisted, the powerfully

359
00:28:22,250 --> 00:28:27,010
Speaker 1: built team could cause havoc. But sheep like to the end,

360
00:28:27,650 --> 00:28:33,570
Speaker 1: Derek meekly followed Pierpoint into the adjoining execution chamber. The

361
00:28:33,610 --> 00:28:39,650
Speaker 1: guards didn't even have to guide him. Derek helpfully stood

362
00:28:39,650 --> 00:28:43,530
Speaker 1: on chalk marks drawn on the wooden trap door as

363
00:28:43,610 --> 00:28:48,370
Speaker 1: Pierpoint gently placed first a white hood and then a

364
00:28:48,410 --> 00:28:53,450
Speaker 1: noose over the boy's head. The executioner stepped over to

365
00:28:53,490 --> 00:28:57,930
Speaker 1: a lever that opened the doors. Beneath Derek's feet, an

366
00:28:57,970 --> 00:29:02,730
Speaker 1: assistant was tying the boy's legs together. When he was done,

367
00:29:03,010 --> 00:29:15,770
Speaker 1: he gave Pierpoint the agreed signal. The crowd booed as

368
00:29:15,810 --> 00:29:20,410
Speaker 1: a prison official came out to post two notices. One

369
00:29:20,570 --> 00:29:27,930
Speaker 1: declared that Derek's execution had taken place before witnesses. The

370
00:29:28,010 --> 00:29:32,290
Speaker 1: other certified that a surgeon had examined the body and

371
00:29:32,450 --> 00:29:37,810
Speaker 1: deemed life to be extinct. The two pieces of paper

372
00:29:38,250 --> 00:29:43,410
Speaker 1: were pinned inside a glazed display case, which someone in

373
00:29:43,450 --> 00:29:45,290
Speaker 1: the crowd promptly smashed.

374
00:29:46,250 --> 00:29:48,010
Speaker 3: I've murdered an innocent boy.

375
00:29:48,490 --> 00:29:52,090
Speaker 1: Cried one protester, as others pelted prison officers and policemen

376
00:29:52,090 --> 00:29:52,690
Speaker 1: with coins.

377
00:29:53,250 --> 00:29:55,850
Speaker 2: It's murder, it's ard up.

378
00:29:56,850 --> 00:30:08,410
Speaker 3: He's heard up. So.

379
00:30:09,330 --> 00:30:12,770
Speaker 1: Just eighty seven days after the shot that killed police

380
00:30:12,810 --> 00:30:19,970
Speaker 1: Constable Miles, Derek Bentley too was dead. The Bentley family,

381
00:30:20,570 --> 00:30:25,610
Speaker 1: anything but meek or timid, fought on demanding a posthumous pardon.

382
00:30:26,890 --> 00:30:31,130
Speaker 1: When Derek's parents died, his sister Iris devoted herself to

383
00:30:31,170 --> 00:30:31,690
Speaker 1: the cause.

384
00:30:32,250 --> 00:30:34,970
Speaker 3: I'm not the sort of person who gives in. I'll

385
00:30:34,970 --> 00:30:36,570
Speaker 3: never never give up.

386
00:30:37,490 --> 00:30:40,090
Speaker 2: When I die, I want that piece of paper that

387
00:30:40,130 --> 00:30:42,490
Speaker 2: pardon put with me in my coffin.

388
00:30:45,290 --> 00:30:51,050
Speaker 1: Iris was buried in nineteen ninety eight, but without Derek's pardon.

389
00:30:51,130 --> 00:30:56,450
Speaker 1: Beside her cruelly, a ruling by the Court of Appeal.

390
00:30:56,450 --> 00:30:57,650
Speaker 3: Was not far off.

391
00:31:02,130 --> 00:31:05,810
Speaker 1: Few people had previously had the courage to contradict Godard,

392
00:31:06,370 --> 00:31:09,530
Speaker 1: even after his death in nineteen seventy one, but the

393
00:31:09,570 --> 00:31:13,610
Speaker 1: appeal judge was shocked by his handling of Derrek's case.

394
00:31:14,290 --> 00:31:17,450
Speaker 1: He concluded that the Lord Chief Justice had not only

395
00:31:17,570 --> 00:31:21,010
Speaker 1: denied Derrek a fair trial, but had done all he

396
00:31:21,090 --> 00:31:26,890
Speaker 1: could to push the jury to convict. Overturning that conviction,

397
00:31:27,410 --> 00:31:30,650
Speaker 1: the appeal judge said, it must be a matter of

398
00:31:30,850 --> 00:31:36,610
Speaker 1: profound and continuing regret that this mistrial occurred, and that

399
00:31:36,650 --> 00:31:40,530
Speaker 1: the defects we have found were not recognized at the time.

400
00:31:42,170 --> 00:31:48,330
Speaker 1: Derek Bentley's remaining family rejoiced, and so did Christopher Craig,

401
00:31:49,610 --> 00:31:53,170
Speaker 1: the gunman on that awful night in nineteen fifty two,

402
00:31:53,890 --> 00:32:00,490
Speaker 1: served ten years in prison, and then rehabilitated, lived a quiet,

403
00:32:01,050 --> 00:32:03,250
Speaker 1: law abiding life.

404
00:32:03,490 --> 00:32:05,530
Speaker 3: Our day does not go by when I do not

405
00:32:05,650 --> 00:32:06,530
Speaker 3: think about.

406
00:32:06,290 --> 00:32:09,730
Speaker 1: Derek, said a now middle aged for Craig.

407
00:32:10,610 --> 00:32:14,970
Speaker 2: Everybody knew that if a policeman dies, somebody asked to

408
00:32:15,010 --> 00:32:15,570
Speaker 2: pay for it.

409
00:32:16,930 --> 00:32:22,130
Speaker 3: I couldn't. I was underage, and Derek Bentley fitted the bill.

410
00:32:24,730 --> 00:32:29,410
Speaker 1: So I had Goddard behaved so abominably and departed so

411
00:32:29,610 --> 00:32:33,090
Speaker 1: far from the norms of the courtroom to send hapless

412
00:32:33,130 --> 00:32:39,290
Speaker 1: Derek to his death. An obvious answer was that Goddard

413
00:32:39,330 --> 00:32:45,490
Speaker 1: wielded immense power whilst also possessing a bullish and bullying personality.

414
00:32:46,290 --> 00:32:49,810
Speaker 1: He never doubted his own judgment, nor did he tolerate

415
00:32:49,930 --> 00:32:56,290
Speaker 1: others questioning him. That is an awful combination. Others have

416
00:32:56,530 --> 00:33:04,050
Speaker 1: claimed that Goddard's obsession with violent physical punishments had a dark, perverse,

417
00:33:04,570 --> 00:33:09,930
Speaker 1: even sexual bent. Having teenage boys beaten or hanged gave

418
00:33:10,010 --> 00:33:15,970
Speaker 1: him pleasure. But one must consider a further motive. At

419
00:33:15,970 --> 00:33:21,810
Speaker 1: a time when abolition seemed close, Godard pushed so fervently,

420
00:33:22,450 --> 00:33:27,050
Speaker 1: so obscenely for Derek's death in a desperate bid to

421
00:33:27,210 --> 00:33:33,930
Speaker 1: save hanging if Lord Chief Justice Goddard and Home Secretary

422
00:33:34,050 --> 00:33:37,890
Speaker 1: David maxwell Fife had hoped the killing of the nineteen

423
00:33:37,970 --> 00:33:41,690
Speaker 1: year old would bolster the popularity of capital punishment and

424
00:33:41,810 --> 00:33:45,170
Speaker 1: stave off calls for its abolition, and they were wronged.

425
00:33:46,170 --> 00:33:51,210
Speaker 1: Nearly three thousand angry telegrams had arrived at maxwell Fife's office,

426
00:33:51,450 --> 00:33:55,930
Speaker 1: and the switchboard had been inundated with telephone calls. Many

427
00:33:56,250 --> 00:34:02,970
Speaker 1: ordinary people were clearly appalled by the hanging. Abolitionists noted

428
00:34:03,010 --> 00:34:07,410
Speaker 1: this public unease, and Derek's death was cited as a

429
00:34:07,410 --> 00:34:11,250
Speaker 1: prime reason why punishment should now cease.

430
00:34:11,490 --> 00:34:16,690
Speaker 2: Altogether, I am certain that the execution of that youngster

431
00:34:17,450 --> 00:34:22,010
Speaker 2: was more like murder than anything Derek Bentley did himself.

432
00:34:22,210 --> 00:34:24,770
Speaker 1: Said one campaigning politician, It.

433
00:34:24,810 --> 00:34:27,690
Speaker 2: Is absolutely indefensible.

434
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Speaker 1: In the wake of Derek's death, and reacting to public anger,

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00:34:35,850 --> 00:34:39,930
Speaker 1: the government changed how the death penalty was imposed, but

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00:34:40,010 --> 00:34:44,130
Speaker 1: these reforms failed to appeal to the common sense of

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Speaker 1: ordinary citizens. A burglar who beat a homeowner to death

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00:34:49,570 --> 00:34:53,970
Speaker 1: would hang. A rapist who murdered his victim would not

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00:34:54,330 --> 00:34:58,770
Speaker 1: face the death penalty. If someone poisoned you, they'd due time,

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Speaker 1: but if they shot.

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00:35:00,210 --> 00:35:01,650
Speaker 3: You, they'd be executed.

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Speaker 1: Killing a prison guard triggered the death penalty, but murdering

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00:35:06,810 --> 00:35:13,450
Speaker 1: a child did not. Death sentences were passed on fewer

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00:35:13,490 --> 00:35:17,850
Speaker 1: and fewer occasions, and it became harder and harder to

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00:35:18,050 --> 00:35:23,250
Speaker 1: argue that hanging was in any way a deterrent to criminals.

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00:35:24,810 --> 00:35:29,090
Speaker 1: In August nineteen sixty four, a couple of petty criminals

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00:35:29,130 --> 00:35:33,330
Speaker 1: who'd stabbed a man during an attempted robbery were hanged

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00:35:33,490 --> 00:35:38,970
Speaker 1: on the same day. In other grislier cases, killer's lives

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00:35:38,970 --> 00:35:43,170
Speaker 1: had been spared, so many people were surprised that these

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00:35:43,210 --> 00:35:46,650
Speaker 1: two hangings had been allowed to go ahead. They would

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00:35:46,650 --> 00:35:52,690
Speaker 1: turn out to be the last. Goddard was by then

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00:35:52,730 --> 00:35:57,650
Speaker 1: in retirement, but even on his very last day in court,

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00:35:58,010 --> 00:36:03,570
Speaker 1: he had been sending business the Hangman's way. Albert Pierpoint

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00:36:03,850 --> 00:36:08,130
Speaker 1: had also retired. Before the abolition of his trade. Hid

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00:36:08,210 --> 00:36:13,490
Speaker 1: long combined stretching necks with pulling points, but now committed

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00:36:13,570 --> 00:36:16,530
Speaker 1: himself full time to running a pub.

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00:36:17,730 --> 00:36:18,850
Speaker 3: And tending bar.

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00:36:19,170 --> 00:36:22,890
Speaker 1: Gave him time to reflect on his previous occupation.

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Speaker 2: If death were a deterrant, I might be expected to know.

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00:36:28,330 --> 00:36:29,730
Speaker 3: He wrote in his memoirs.

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00:36:30,690 --> 00:36:33,450
Speaker 2: I do not now believe that any one of the

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00:36:33,570 --> 00:36:37,490
Speaker 2: hundreds of executions I carried out has in any way

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00:36:37,650 --> 00:36:43,970
Speaker 2: acted as a deterrant against future murder. Capital punishment, in

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00:36:44,050 --> 00:36:55,810
Speaker 2: my view, achieved nothing except revenge.

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Speaker 1: For a full list of our sources, see the show

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00:37:02,490 --> 00:37:09,210
Speaker 1: notes at Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales is written by

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00:37:09,250 --> 00:37:13,130
Speaker 1: me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines, and Ryan Dilly.

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00:37:13,610 --> 00:37:18,050
Speaker 1: It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound

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00:37:18,050 --> 00:37:21,410
Speaker 1: design and original music are the work of Pascal Wise.

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00:37:21,810 --> 00:37:25,290
Speaker 1: Additional sound design is by Carlos San Juan at Brain

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00:37:25,410 --> 00:37:26,890
Speaker 1: Audio Bend.

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00:37:26,890 --> 00:37:28,770
Speaker 3: The daff Haffrey edited the scripts.

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00:37:29,650 --> 00:37:33,530
Speaker 1: The show features the voice talents of Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford,

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00:37:33,730 --> 00:37:38,970
Speaker 1: Oliver Hembrough, Sarah Jupp, massaam Monroe, Alfred Warren, Jamal Westman

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00:37:39,210 --> 00:37:42,770
Speaker 1: and rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible

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00:37:42,810 --> 00:37:46,530
Speaker 1: without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Sarah Nix,

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00:37:46,850 --> 00:37:51,810
Speaker 1: Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey and Owen Miller.

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00:37:52,970 --> 00:37:56,970
Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded

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00:37:57,050 --> 00:38:01,250
Speaker 1: at Wardore Studios in London by Tom Berry. If you

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00:38:01,370 --> 00:38:04,650
Speaker 1: like the show, please remember to share, rate and review.

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00:38:04,730 --> 00:38:06,450
Speaker 1: It really makes a difference to us and if you

482
00:38:06,490 --> 00:38:09,210
Speaker 1: want to hear the show, add free sign up to

483
00:38:09,250 --> 00:38:12,530
Speaker 1: Pushkin Plus on the show page on Apple Podcasts or

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00:38:12,570 --> 00:38:15,330
Speaker 1: at pushkin dot fm, slash plus