WEBVTT - Derek Bentley Must Hang 0:00:15.410 --> 0:00:26.570 Pushkin, Derek Bentley towered over the guards pacing beside him 0:00:26.690 --> 0:00:31.010 in the exercise yard of London's Wandsworth Prison. Derek was 0:00:31.050 --> 0:00:34.650 broader than his warders too. He was a physically imposing 0:00:34.810 --> 0:00:37.770 nineteen year old with the look of a weightlifter or 0:00:37.770 --> 0:00:42.490 a boxer. The prisoner's shock of yellow hair, worn long 0:00:42.570 --> 0:00:45.930 and combed back, as was the teen fashion in nineteen 0:00:46.010 --> 0:00:52.050 fifty three, danced in the cold winter breeze. Occasionally, smoke 0:00:52.090 --> 0:00:55.530 from a cigarette would blow back into Derek's eyes, making 0:00:55.610 --> 0:01:00.210 him WinCE. But despite his bulk, a visitor to the jail, 0:01:00.650 --> 0:01:04.930 looking down at the scene and carefully sizing Bentley up, 0:01:05.730 --> 0:01:08.850 saw something childlike in the convict. 0:01:10.450 --> 0:01:12.970 In his great prison clause, he looked like a schoolboy 0:01:13.130 --> 0:01:15.770 dressed for some classroom charade. 0:01:16.370 --> 0:01:21.010 The prison doctors agreed. Since his arrest the previous November, 0:01:21.610 --> 0:01:25.610 they had subjected Derek to a battery of tests. The 0:01:25.650 --> 0:01:29.850 results revealed a low IQ, a dearth of literacy skills, 0:01:30.250 --> 0:01:33.890 and the developmental age god of nineteen but more like 0:01:33.930 --> 0:01:38.010 that of a child of eleven or twelve. The prisoner 0:01:38.170 --> 0:01:40.730 was deemed to be, in the parlance of the time, 0:01:41.450 --> 0:01:47.130 borderline feeble minded. In truth. There were many things that 0:01:47.290 --> 0:01:52.650 Derek Bentley didn't understand, but the most pressing was why 0:01:52.730 --> 0:01:58.650 he was in prison awaiting execution. He had broken into 0:01:58.690 --> 0:02:03.050 a warehouse, and during the course of that crime, a 0:02:03.050 --> 0:02:08.930 policeman had been shot dead, but Derek hadn't held the gun. 0:02:09.170 --> 0:02:12.370 Was already under arrest when the fatal shot rang out. 0:02:13.490 --> 0:02:17.730 The murderer, a sixteen year old named Christopher Craig, had 0:02:17.770 --> 0:02:21.970 been found guilty of the actual killing, but he wasn't 0:02:21.970 --> 0:02:27.130 going to hang. It all confused Derek Bentley. Why was 0:02:27.170 --> 0:02:32.050 he the one to die. Derek's family didn't think he 0:02:32.090 --> 0:02:35.490 should hang either. The trial jury had asked for the 0:02:35.530 --> 0:02:39.290 death penalty not to be imposed, so there seemed to 0:02:39.330 --> 0:02:44.570 be hoped that the authorities would heed this appeal for clemency. Indeed, 0:02:44.810 --> 0:02:48.210 so certain were the Bentless that he'd be freed, they'd 0:02:48.210 --> 0:02:51.890 wrapped Christmas presents for Derek, a tie and a box 0:02:51.930 --> 0:02:56.490 of chocolates, and placed them under the family tree. You 0:02:56.490 --> 0:02:59.250 can open them when you get home, was the implication. 0:03:00.690 --> 0:03:04.610 But as December gave way to January and the date 0:03:04.690 --> 0:03:09.050 of his execution drew near, the man who held Derrek's 0:03:09.210 --> 0:03:14.170 fate in his hands home Secretary David Maxwell Fife was 0:03:14.210 --> 0:03:18.330 in no mood to show leniency. A petition by more 0:03:18.370 --> 0:03:22.890 than two hundred members of Parliament, plus protests outside Downing 0:03:22.890 --> 0:03:27.570 Street and government offices, and finally, Maxwell Fife's own home 0:03:28.330 --> 0:03:31.450 hadn't yet prompted the cabinet minister to change his mind. 0:03:34.090 --> 0:03:38.930 On the evening before his son's scheduled execution, William Bentley 0:03:39.010 --> 0:03:44.050 led that noisy rally outside the politician's Smart London apartment. 0:03:45.010 --> 0:03:49.290 Bentley is not sleeping tonight, said William of his boy 0:03:50.290 --> 0:03:52.450 Anira Shall Maxwell. 0:03:52.730 --> 0:03:57.890 What the newspapers and radio were a buzz with these 0:03:58.050 --> 0:04:02.970 last minute moves. Political leaders, among the men who'd held 0:04:03.130 --> 0:04:08.210 senior legal positions, beseeched Her Majesty the Queen to intervene 0:04:08.290 --> 0:04:12.570 in a case that they said out of accord with 0:04:12.770 --> 0:04:19.130 natural justice. So at one minute to nine on the 0:04:19.170 --> 0:04:22.810 morning of January twenty eighth, when a well dressed man 0:04:23.130 --> 0:04:27.010 burst into the condemned cell, Derek Bentley assumed that this 0:04:27.210 --> 0:04:32.050 was legal counsel bringing word of a reprieve. Derek stood 0:04:32.090 --> 0:04:35.890 to receive the good news. The two prison officers who 0:04:35.890 --> 0:04:42.650 were his constant shadow, rose too. Then Derek noticed something 0:04:43.090 --> 0:04:50.490 peculiar in the stranger's hands was a loop of yellow leather. Swiftly, 0:04:50.850 --> 0:04:54.330 this was passed over Derek's wrists, finding them tightly behind 0:04:54.370 --> 0:04:57.850 his back. The man in the suit was no lawyer. 0:04:59.210 --> 0:05:06.810 This was Albert Pierpoint, England's chief hangman. If there was 0:05:06.850 --> 0:05:13.130 to be a reprieve, it had better happen soon. I'm 0:05:13.210 --> 0:05:42.370 Tim Harford and you're listening to another cautionary tale. Let's 0:05:42.410 --> 0:05:46.810 go back three months to November the two, nineteen fifty two. 0:05:47.890 --> 0:05:52.370 It's Sunday evening and darkness has fallen on a cold 0:05:52.410 --> 0:05:56.610 and grizzly day. Wiser Britons would seek to be safe 0:05:56.650 --> 0:05:59.890 beside a fire on such a night, but that wasn't 0:05:59.930 --> 0:06:04.050 the sort of evening Derek Bentley had in mind. Instead, 0:06:04.530 --> 0:06:08.210 he was out with his friend Christopher Craig, a sixteen 0:06:08.250 --> 0:06:14.130 year old whom Derek called Kid or Kiddo. By rights, 0:06:14.330 --> 0:06:16.970 Derek shouldn't have been hanging around with the younger boy 0:06:17.410 --> 0:06:20.490 at his age. He should have been conscripted into the military, 0:06:21.050 --> 0:06:24.570 but the authorities took one look at Derek and decided 0:06:24.610 --> 0:06:31.730 he was too mentally substandard to complete compulsory service. Despite 0:06:31.730 --> 0:06:35.090 his size, Derek was always thought by his teachers to 0:06:35.130 --> 0:06:41.410 be sheeplike and timid. When truancy and petty crime landed 0:06:41.490 --> 0:06:45.290 him in reform school, it was noted that his lack 0:06:45.330 --> 0:06:48.450 of intelligence prevents him from joining in many of the 0:06:48.490 --> 0:06:51.850 indoor games, and he is by no means a sportsman. 0:06:53.370 --> 0:06:57.610 When tested, Derek's low IQ placed him in the bottom 0:06:57.890 --> 0:07:04.290 one percent of the population. Today, someone like Derek would 0:07:04.330 --> 0:07:08.170 be said to have special needs and would we'd hope 0:07:08.490 --> 0:07:12.810 have those needs met. But the language used to describe 0:07:12.890 --> 0:07:18.130 Derek back then was brutal and sympathy for him limited. 0:07:19.530 --> 0:07:22.890 One expert pleaded that he be sent as far away 0:07:22.970 --> 0:07:29.890 from home as possible to a school for subnormals. Derek, 0:07:30.330 --> 0:07:34.610 who also suffered fits and seizures, fared little better in 0:07:34.690 --> 0:07:38.210 the world of work. He took a job moving furniture, 0:07:38.850 --> 0:07:42.450 but his back gave out. A career as a garbage 0:07:42.450 --> 0:07:46.690 collector was also brief. Within weeks, he was demoted to 0:07:46.730 --> 0:07:54.450 sweeping the streets and then fired Altogether mocked, rejected, and belittled, 0:07:54.970 --> 0:07:58.370 The team then retreated to the security of the Bentley 0:07:58.490 --> 0:08:05.090 family home. But on this dank November Sunday evening, Derek 0:08:05.210 --> 0:08:08.250 ventured away from the warmth of the hearth to catch 0:08:08.290 --> 0:08:11.490 a bus that would take him on a terrible misadventure. 0:08:13.690 --> 0:08:17.850 His choice of companion was his first mistake of that evening. 0:08:18.610 --> 0:08:23.890 Christopher Craig had ambitions to be a gangster. His older brother, Niven, 0:08:24.290 --> 0:08:28.010 had just begun a twelve year prison sentence for a 0:08:28.050 --> 0:08:33.570 shocking armed home invasion. Christopher had angrily watched his brother 0:08:33.650 --> 0:08:37.130 be convicted and learned a lesson, But it was not 0:08:37.330 --> 0:08:42.250 that crime doesn't pay. Instead, he decided that you shouldn't 0:08:42.450 --> 0:08:44.250 ever let yourself be caught. 0:08:46.770 --> 0:08:47.890 Still seething with. 0:08:47.930 --> 0:08:52.850 Resentment, Christopher hopped onto that southbound bus carrying a forty 0:08:52.890 --> 0:08:56.850 five Revolver in his pocket, a relic of World War One. 0:08:57.370 --> 0:09:00.410 The pistol's barrel had been shortened to make it easier 0:09:00.450 --> 0:09:05.210 to conceal. Its power and accuracy were further reduced because 0:09:05.290 --> 0:09:09.290 Christopher had struggled to find the right ammunition. All of 0:09:09.330 --> 0:09:14.490 the cartridges were intended for a smaller gun. Still, the 0:09:14.530 --> 0:09:18.930 weight of the firearm in his pocket, no doubt, pleased Christopher, 0:09:19.410 --> 0:09:22.730 making him feel like the Hollywood gangster of his phantasies, 0:09:23.610 --> 0:09:26.970 and he'd need that swagger the job he had in mind. 0:09:28.570 --> 0:09:31.850 The younger boy had dared Derek to join him breaking 0:09:31.890 --> 0:09:35.770 into a local butcher's shop. Derek was already carrying a 0:09:35.810 --> 0:09:39.850 small knife, but as their bus chugged towards their target, 0:09:40.410 --> 0:09:43.930 Christopher gave his friend a fearsome knuckle duster too. 0:09:45.890 --> 0:09:47.170 The robbery was a bust. 0:09:47.850 --> 0:09:51.370 Somebody was in the butcher's shop, but Christopher spotted a 0:09:51.410 --> 0:09:58.170 new opportunity the nearby warehouse of a candy company. Christopher 0:09:58.170 --> 0:10:01.490 scaled its gate, hoping to break in via the roof. 0:10:02.130 --> 0:10:07.610 Derek trailed behind. But they've been spotted. Constables from the 0:10:07.650 --> 0:10:12.090 nearby police station qui, we had them surrounded. Perhaps more 0:10:12.170 --> 0:10:17.090 athletic than his colleagues, Detective Constable Fred Fairfax was the 0:10:17.130 --> 0:10:20.450 first to climb the roof via a drain pipe in 0:10:20.530 --> 0:10:23.970 the gloom, He saw the boys scurry into hiding and 0:10:24.090 --> 0:10:25.450 called on them to surrender. 0:10:26.130 --> 0:10:29.090 If you want us fuck you welcome and get us, 0:10:29.650 --> 0:10:30.650 replied Christopher. 0:10:31.730 --> 0:10:36.170 Perhaps enraged by such impertinence, the constable rushed the burglars 0:10:36.250 --> 0:10:40.130 and grabbed hold of Derek before the youth broke free. 0:10:40.290 --> 0:10:46.370 It's here that eyewitness accounts differ. Derek denied shouting anything. 0:10:46.930 --> 0:10:51.010 A version of events backed by Christopher, the other policeman 0:10:51.210 --> 0:10:54.810 heard nothing or thought the shout came at a slightly 0:10:54.810 --> 0:10:59.890 different moment, but Fairfax was certain as he tussled with 0:10:59.930 --> 0:11:06.730 the hulking nineteen year old Derek yelled, let him have it, Chris. 0:11:07.690 --> 0:11:11.650 But was Derek simply pleading for his partner in crime 0:11:11.930 --> 0:11:14.730 to surrender the pistol he was now brandishing. 0:11:15.050 --> 0:11:19.210 Let him have it, Chris. Or was Derek. 0:11:19.210 --> 0:11:23.370 Channeling his inner James Cagney and growling for his friend 0:11:23.450 --> 0:11:24.450 to open fire. 0:11:25.650 --> 0:11:27.730 Let him have it, Chris. 0:11:29.010 --> 0:11:34.890 Christopher's opening shot hit Fairfax, grazing his upper arm. Undaunted, 0:11:35.210 --> 0:11:38.290 the officer grabbed Derek again and used the boy as 0:11:38.290 --> 0:11:42.690 a shield while he ran for cover. As more officers 0:11:42.690 --> 0:11:47.370 closed in, Christopher continued his fusal hard. He also kept 0:11:47.450 --> 0:11:49.650 up a barrage of taunts. 0:11:49.570 --> 0:11:51.010 Come on, you brave propers. 0:11:51.450 --> 0:11:54.890 Think of you what I am Craig, You just give 0:11:54.930 --> 0:11:58.570 it my brother twelve years Come on, you proppers, I'm 0:11:58.650 --> 0:12:03.690 only sixty. Two of these coppers had made it into 0:12:03.770 --> 0:12:06.450 the warehouse and were taking the stairs. 0:12:06.170 --> 0:12:07.970 Up to a door leading to the roof. 0:12:09.650 --> 0:12:13.690 Police Constable Sydney Miles kicked it open and burst out 0:12:13.730 --> 0:12:22.370 into the night. A bullet struck him between the eyes, 0:12:23.450 --> 0:12:39.370 killing him instantly. Cautionary tales returns in a moment. There 0:12:39.490 --> 0:12:44.770 was widespread revulsion at the murder of Sydney Miles. This 0:12:45.570 --> 0:12:51.290 is not England, said the vicar at Sydney's funeral, the. 0:12:51.290 --> 0:12:55.530 England for which men and women have laid down their lives. 0:12:57.010 --> 0:13:00.850 Sydney's coffin was topped by his police helmet and a 0:13:00.850 --> 0:13:05.130 wreath from his wife. Officers from across the country were there. 0:13:05.890 --> 0:13:10.930 Senior officials too, including the man ultimately responsible for law 0:13:10.970 --> 0:13:16.930 and order, the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fife. The shooting 0:13:17.010 --> 0:13:21.610 on that warehouse roof unnerved the nation, partly because it 0:13:21.690 --> 0:13:25.730 was so unusual the number of times a year guns 0:13:25.770 --> 0:13:29.090 were fired in London robberies. You could count them on 0:13:29.210 --> 0:13:33.410 the fingers of one hand. And yes, the murder rate 0:13:33.690 --> 0:13:41.650 was rising, but from its lowest point for centuries. After 0:13:41.730 --> 0:13:46.650 his initial attempt to flee, Derek Bentley had meekly stood 0:13:46.690 --> 0:13:52.930 with the police, seemingly accepting his detention, but Christopher Craig 0:13:53.290 --> 0:13:58.610 had continued to exchange shots with armed police until his 0:13:58.730 --> 0:14:00.370 supply of ammunition exhausted. 0:14:01.010 --> 0:14:02.890 It flung himself from the rooftop. 0:14:03.690 --> 0:14:08.130 Though badly injured, he survived the fall, unrepentantly telling the 0:14:08.210 --> 0:14:09.370 arresting officer. 0:14:10.730 --> 0:14:13.090 I wish I killed a ducking enough. 0:14:15.970 --> 0:14:21.450 Given such violence and such brazenness, its little wonder that 0:14:21.530 --> 0:14:25.050 some people wanted to see an example made of these 0:14:25.210 --> 0:14:30.810 teen criminals. The topic even came up when Sir Charles Hardy, 0:14:31.170 --> 0:14:34.170 one of the most famous businessmen of the day, lunched 0:14:34.290 --> 0:14:40.050 with a certain Baron Goddard. The uncompromising Goddard, who basked 0:14:40.050 --> 0:14:44.570 in the nickname the Tiger, told his dining companion that 0:14:44.690 --> 0:14:50.130 Bentley and Craig had to be found guilty. 0:14:49.090 --> 0:14:50.570 At all costs. 0:14:52.970 --> 0:14:57.450 Such of you might not seem so remarkable given public anger. 0:14:57.450 --> 0:15:02.890 In nineteen fifty two, only Goddard was the Lord Chief 0:15:03.170 --> 0:15:07.330 Justice of England, the most senior judge in the land, 0:15:08.170 --> 0:15:16.290 and h just appointed himself to oversee the trial. William 0:15:16.610 --> 0:15:21.050 Edgar Reyner Goddard seems to have been a lifelong fan 0:15:21.410 --> 0:15:25.290 of the hangman. As a pupil at one of England's 0:15:25.290 --> 0:15:30.210 most exclusive private schools, he was said to recite word 0:15:30.330 --> 0:15:32.570 for word the death penalty. 0:15:33.450 --> 0:15:35.810 The sentence of the court is that you be taken 0:15:35.850 --> 0:15:38.810 from this place to a lawful prison, and thence to 0:15:38.850 --> 0:15:40.130 a place of execution. 0:15:41.490 --> 0:15:44.650 It was said to be Goddard's party piece, preferred to 0:15:44.810 --> 0:15:48.130 telling a joke or singing a song, and. 0:15:48.050 --> 0:15:50.530 That you may be hanged by the neck until you 0:15:50.770 --> 0:15:55.090 be dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. 0:15:56.450 --> 0:16:02.490 As an adult, he remained an enthusiastic supporter of violent punishments, 0:16:02.690 --> 0:16:07.330 meeting out whippings and beatings for lesser offenses and hangings 0:16:07.570 --> 0:16:13.770 for more serious crimes. However, his elevation to the highest 0:16:13.890 --> 0:16:17.130 level of the judiciary came at a time that such 0:16:17.250 --> 0:16:22.210 views were being challenged. Following World War II, an election 0:16:22.690 --> 0:16:27.890 swept the anti hanging Labor Party into power, and many 0:16:27.930 --> 0:16:31.330 of the new socialist politicians taking their seats in the 0:16:31.330 --> 0:16:36.490 House of Commons were young servicemen returning from war, sick 0:16:36.610 --> 0:16:43.170 perhaps of violence. These elected politicians voted to end hanging 0:16:43.930 --> 0:16:47.650 only for the unelected lords in the Upper Chamber, where 0:16:47.730 --> 0:16:55.370 Baron Goddard sat, to overrule them. This sparked a constitutional crisis. 0:16:56.010 --> 0:17:00.970 The lords weren't supposed to defy the Commons, but a 0:17:01.010 --> 0:17:06.370 compromise was reached. A special commission would thoroughly review how 0:17:06.410 --> 0:17:08.130 the death penalty was administered. 0:17:08.890 --> 0:17:10.010 So thoroughly, in. 0:17:10.010 --> 0:17:15.890 Fact, that the report would take four whole years to complete, 0:17:16.170 --> 0:17:22.010 so hanging was reprieved, much to Goddard's delight. He threatened 0:17:22.010 --> 0:17:25.850 to resign as Lord Chief Justice whenever the repeal of 0:17:25.890 --> 0:17:29.890 the death penalty looked imminent. But with the political tide 0:17:30.010 --> 0:17:34.610 clearly shifting against execution, Goddard thought it was time for 0:17:34.650 --> 0:17:40.410 the justices beneath him to hand down death sentences whenever possible. 0:17:41.170 --> 0:17:49.170 I advise all judges to harden their hearts. 0:17:50.410 --> 0:17:55.490 The joint trial of Derrek Bentley and Christopher Craig took 0:17:55.530 --> 0:18:00.290 place at the Central Criminal Court, London's famous Old Bailey. 0:18:01.330 --> 0:18:04.690 The prosecution case against the sixteen year old Christopher was 0:18:04.770 --> 0:18:10.330 clear he'd fired the fatal shot. Derek, it was argued, 0:18:10.810 --> 0:18:14.250 was also a murderer because he had known Christopher was armed, 0:18:14.610 --> 0:18:20.690 and furthermore, had verbally encouraged him to open fire. Derek 0:18:20.810 --> 0:18:23.730 denied knowing anything about the pistol until it was drawn 0:18:23.810 --> 0:18:28.250 on Detective Fairfax, but the jury was told this version 0:18:28.290 --> 0:18:31.770 of events was almost inconceivable. 0:18:32.690 --> 0:18:34.810 I should think you would come to the conclusion that 0:18:34.850 --> 0:18:38.370 the first thing almost Craig would tell him if they 0:18:38.410 --> 0:18:42.490 were going on a shop breaking expedition, was it's all right? 0:18:43.050 --> 0:18:44.650 I got a revolver with me. 0:18:45.730 --> 0:18:50.370 This bold statement, not backed up by any evidence, was 0:18:50.410 --> 0:18:54.850 made not by the prosecutor, no, but by the judge, 0:18:55.530 --> 0:19:00.530 Tiger Goddard. From the outset the seventy five year old 0:19:00.690 --> 0:19:04.370 in his red robes and ceremonial Wig seems to have 0:19:04.410 --> 0:19:07.250 made good on his pledge that the pair would be 0:19:07.330 --> 0:19:14.890 found guilty at all costs. A judge's role at trial 0:19:15.090 --> 0:19:18.610 is complex, but the bedrock of their duty is to 0:19:18.730 --> 0:19:23.170 explain to jurors that the onus is on the prosecution 0:19:23.570 --> 0:19:29.170 to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. But at Derek 0:19:29.210 --> 0:19:33.930 Bentley's trial, Goddard didn't bother to explain what reasonable doubt meant. 0:19:34.530 --> 0:19:36.930 He did mention that it was for the prosecution to 0:19:37.010 --> 0:19:39.890 make their case and not for the defendants to prove 0:19:39.930 --> 0:19:43.410 their innocence, but he did so in a single sentence, 0:19:44.130 --> 0:19:47.770 adding grumply that he considered that such a reminder. 0:19:47.410 --> 0:19:49.330 Was hardly necessary. 0:19:51.090 --> 0:19:54.210 But don't be fooled into thinking Godard wasn't keen to 0:19:54.290 --> 0:19:57.490 address the twelve men in the jury box. He was 0:19:58.570 --> 0:20:02.450 with both defendants, denying that Derek had said let him 0:20:02.450 --> 0:20:06.530 have it, Chris. The jury only had the slightly confused 0:20:06.570 --> 0:20:10.690 testimony of the police witnesses to go on. Instead of 0:20:10.730 --> 0:20:14.690 pointing out that police officers don't have some special status 0:20:14.730 --> 0:20:19.530 as accurate and reliable witnesses, Goddard drew a direct link 0:20:19.770 --> 0:20:23.210 between the gallantry and resolution of the constables on the 0:20:23.250 --> 0:20:26.090 rooftop that night and their evidence to the court. 0:20:27.010 --> 0:20:32.290 They were conspicuously brave. Are you going to say they 0:20:32.330 --> 0:20:34.090 are conspicuous liars? 0:20:35.770 --> 0:20:39.090 That's quite something for a judge to tell a jury, 0:20:40.930 --> 0:20:44.690 given public outrage about the murder of a police constable. 0:20:45.050 --> 0:20:48.850 Goddard's other duty was to tamp down emotions in his 0:20:48.930 --> 0:20:53.290 courtroom and encourage the jurors to weigh the facts as 0:20:53.370 --> 0:20:57.530 presented and not let any personal prejudices or feelings of 0:20:57.570 --> 0:21:03.570 disgust or anger cloud their decisions. But instead, Goddard indulged 0:21:03.610 --> 0:21:08.290 in court room theatrics of the most stunning kind. At 0:21:08.330 --> 0:21:11.490 one point, he asked for the weapons found on Derek 0:21:11.530 --> 0:21:14.330 Bentley to be passed to him. 0:21:14.610 --> 0:21:19.570 Where is that knuckle duster? Have you ever seen a 0:21:19.650 --> 0:21:25.210 more horrible sort of weapon? You grasp it here, your 0:21:25.250 --> 0:21:29.530 fingers go through. I cannot quite get mine through. And 0:21:29.610 --> 0:21:34.370 you've got a dreadful heavy steel bar to strike anybody 0:21:34.410 --> 0:21:37.290 with and you can kill a person with this, of course, 0:21:37.850 --> 0:21:40.170 it is a shocking weapon. 0:21:42.130 --> 0:21:46.290 Goddard then held aloft small knife taken from Bentley, which 0:21:46.330 --> 0:21:48.090 he emotively referred to. 0:21:48.330 --> 0:21:49.130 As a dagger. 0:21:50.050 --> 0:21:52.530 What is he carrying that with him for? 0:21:53.530 --> 0:21:58.770 Godard didn't answer his own question, perhaps because one plausible 0:21:58.810 --> 0:22:03.890 response is that Derek Bentley had absolutely no plans to 0:22:04.050 --> 0:22:10.690 use the weapons. Derek was being tried an accessory in 0:22:10.850 --> 0:22:14.970 joint enterprise. It's clear that he was in a joint 0:22:15.090 --> 0:22:18.810 enterprise with his younger friend to rob the warehouse. He 0:22:18.890 --> 0:22:22.410 had scaled a gate and climbed atop the roof. Once 0:22:22.490 --> 0:22:26.370 discovered by Detective Fairfax. Derek had tried to run away, 0:22:27.250 --> 0:22:31.890 arguably in a joint enterprise, to evade arrest, but then 0:22:32.050 --> 0:22:37.010 quickly gave up that effort. Was the joint enterprise now 0:22:37.010 --> 0:22:41.170 at an end? Long before the murder of Constable Miles. 0:22:41.850 --> 0:22:45.530 Though armed with a knife and knuckle duster, Derek made 0:22:45.570 --> 0:22:48.810 no attempt to assault the policeman holding him, and as 0:22:48.890 --> 0:22:52.730 Christopher Craig kept up his angry, foul mouth taunting of 0:22:52.770 --> 0:22:59.690 the police, Derek stood meekly and quietly, occasionally expressing concern 0:22:59.770 --> 0:23:00.890 for the officer's safety. 0:23:02.010 --> 0:23:05.530 You want to look out, you'll blow your heads off. 0:23:06.850 --> 0:23:10.770 When Fairfax left his prisoner's side for a moment, Derek 0:23:10.850 --> 0:23:14.810 made no fresh attempt to bolt or rejoin his armed comrade. 0:23:15.770 --> 0:23:19.170 If indeed Derek had said let him have it, Chris, 0:23:19.970 --> 0:23:22.690 for those words to have earned him a guilty verdict, 0:23:23.130 --> 0:23:25.970 it wouldn't have mattered how they sounded to the teen gunman, 0:23:26.370 --> 0:23:30.410 nor to the police, only that Derek had intended them 0:23:30.850 --> 0:23:35.570 as an incitement to open fire. But Derek's demeanor during 0:23:35.610 --> 0:23:41.570 his detainment was passive and acquiescent. The teen described as 0:23:41.890 --> 0:23:45.210 timid and sheep like all his life and with no 0:23:45.370 --> 0:23:49.170 history of violence, might easily have meant for Christopher Craig 0:23:49.250 --> 0:23:53.770 to surrender his pistol and accept his lawful arrest. It's 0:23:53.970 --> 0:24:01.930 certainly a possibility the jurors should have considered. Just before 0:24:02.050 --> 0:24:07.250 the jury retired to consider their verdict, Godard, having praised 0:24:07.250 --> 0:24:11.290 the prosecution case Fulseoen, mocked the defendant. 0:24:11.930 --> 0:24:15.730 Bentley's defense is I didn't know he had a gun, 0:24:16.210 --> 0:24:19.610 and I deny that I said let him have it, Chris. 0:24:20.450 --> 0:24:23.130 I never knew he was going to shoot, and I 0:24:23.170 --> 0:24:24.210 didn't think he would. 0:24:27.050 --> 0:24:31.850 The jurymen filed out to begin deliberations, ringing in their 0:24:31.930 --> 0:24:36.290 ears an exhortation from the highest judge in the land 0:24:36.770 --> 0:24:43.730 that they should use their common sense. They took just 0:24:44.090 --> 0:24:49.850 seventy five minutes to find both defendants guilty. Christopher Craig 0:24:50.170 --> 0:24:54.010 wouldn't hang, he was too young, and since there was 0:24:54.050 --> 0:24:57.930 a precedent that if a killer didn't hang, an accomplice 0:24:57.970 --> 0:25:03.530 wouldn't either, the jury asked that Derek's life be spared too. 0:25:03.970 --> 0:25:10.210 Goddard ignored their plea and recited the death penalty memorized 0:25:10.290 --> 0:25:15.570 at school. Derek would hang by the neck until. 0:25:15.330 --> 0:25:18.690 Dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul. 0:25:19.730 --> 0:25:23.530 The Lord Chief Justice had told his fellow judges that 0:25:23.570 --> 0:25:26.330 it wasn't their job to show pity to the prisoners 0:25:26.330 --> 0:25:26.890 in their dock. 0:25:27.850 --> 0:25:32.690 For said Goddard, in other and higher hands, mercy may 0:25:32.730 --> 0:25:33.530 be extended. 0:25:35.290 --> 0:25:39.490 So the Lord Chief Justice, having passed a death sentence, 0:25:40.090 --> 0:25:43.450 sat down to write a letter to a higher hand, 0:25:44.250 --> 0:25:50.130 the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fife, the only man who 0:25:50.130 --> 0:25:56.330 could now save Derek from the hangman's noose. Cautionary tales 0:25:56.330 --> 0:26:10.050 will be back after the break. In the early morning 0:26:10.250 --> 0:26:14.690 January Gloom, a crowd stood at the gates of Wandsworth Prison, 0:26:15.570 --> 0:26:20.690 wrapped up against the cold, they sang hymns and recited psalms. 0:26:22.210 --> 0:26:29.130 There still seemed hope for Derek Bentley, even inside the 0:26:29.170 --> 0:26:34.130 prison where he was making his final macabre preparations and calculations. 0:26:34.610 --> 0:26:40.010 Hangman Albert Pierpoint wasn't sure his services would be required. 0:26:40.090 --> 0:26:43.850 After all, the possibility of a last minute reprieve still 0:26:43.930 --> 0:26:46.450 hung in the air stronger than I have ever known it. 0:26:48.970 --> 0:26:52.410 At the very heart of government there was, in fact 0:26:52.810 --> 0:26:56.770 a mood to show mercy. The most senior officials in 0:26:56.810 --> 0:27:01.730 the Home Office advised David Maxwell Fife to intervene to 0:27:01.850 --> 0:27:06.530 spare Derek's life, but the Home Secretary was taking his 0:27:06.690 --> 0:27:08.890 advice from Barn. 0:27:11.090 --> 0:27:16.410 I could find no mitigating circumstances in Bentley's case. I 0:27:16.450 --> 0:27:19.810 am convinced that he is a most dangerous criminal. 0:27:21.250 --> 0:27:23.930 In his own verdict on the case, which he called 0:27:24.570 --> 0:27:28.410 a very bad murder, Maxwell five said it would be 0:27:28.530 --> 0:27:32.570 dangerous to let Derek live, since that might encourage similar 0:27:32.570 --> 0:27:38.450 attacks on unarmed police. Given public anxiety about violent crime, 0:27:39.250 --> 0:27:46.250 he decreed that Derek must hang at eight point fifty 0:27:46.330 --> 0:27:50.250 nine a m in the condemned cell peer Point was 0:27:50.290 --> 0:27:54.330 now standing so close to Derek Bentley that he could 0:27:54.370 --> 0:27:56.370 talk to the boy in a whisper. 0:27:58.290 --> 0:28:03.890 Just follow me, lad, It's all right, Derek, Just follow me. 0:28:07.490 --> 0:28:12.010 Peer Point had conducted hundreds of executions and found that 0:28:12.130 --> 0:28:17.290 moving quietly and calmly but at speed encouraged compliance from 0:28:17.290 --> 0:28:22.210 the condemned. He feared that if Derek resisted, the powerfully 0:28:22.250 --> 0:28:27.010 built team could cause havoc. But sheep like to the end, 0:28:27.650 --> 0:28:33.570 Derek meekly followed Pierpoint into the adjoining execution chamber. The 0:28:33.610 --> 0:28:39.650 guards didn't even have to guide him. Derek helpfully stood 0:28:39.650 --> 0:28:43.530 on chalk marks drawn on the wooden trap door as 0:28:43.610 --> 0:28:48.370 Pierpoint gently placed first a white hood and then a 0:28:48.410 --> 0:28:53.450 noose over the boy's head. The executioner stepped over to 0:28:53.490 --> 0:28:57.930 a lever that opened the doors. Beneath Derek's feet, an 0:28:57.970 --> 0:29:02.730 assistant was tying the boy's legs together. When he was done, 0:29:03.010 --> 0:29:15.770 he gave Pierpoint the agreed signal. The crowd booed as 0:29:15.810 --> 0:29:20.410 a prison official came out to post two notices. One 0:29:20.570 --> 0:29:27.930 declared that Derek's execution had taken place before witnesses. The 0:29:28.010 --> 0:29:32.290 other certified that a surgeon had examined the body and 0:29:32.450 --> 0:29:37.810 deemed life to be extinct. The two pieces of paper 0:29:38.250 --> 0:29:43.410 were pinned inside a glazed display case, which someone in 0:29:43.450 --> 0:29:45.290 the crowd promptly smashed. 0:29:46.250 --> 0:29:48.010 I've murdered an innocent boy. 0:29:48.490 --> 0:29:52.090 Cried one protester, as others pelted prison officers and policemen 0:29:52.090 --> 0:29:52.690 with coins. 0:29:53.250 --> 0:29:55.850 It's murder, it's ard up. 0:29:56.850 --> 0:30:08.410 He's heard up. So. 0:30:09.330 --> 0:30:12.770 Just eighty seven days after the shot that killed police 0:30:12.810 --> 0:30:19.970 Constable Miles, Derek Bentley too was dead. The Bentley family, 0:30:20.570 --> 0:30:25.610 anything but meek or timid, fought on demanding a posthumous pardon. 0:30:26.890 --> 0:30:31.130 When Derek's parents died, his sister Iris devoted herself to 0:30:31.170 --> 0:30:31.690 the cause. 0:30:32.250 --> 0:30:34.970 I'm not the sort of person who gives in. I'll 0:30:34.970 --> 0:30:36.570 never never give up. 0:30:37.490 --> 0:30:40.090 When I die, I want that piece of paper that 0:30:40.130 --> 0:30:42.490 pardon put with me in my coffin. 0:30:45.290 --> 0:30:51.050 Iris was buried in nineteen ninety eight, but without Derek's pardon. 0:30:51.130 --> 0:30:56.450 Beside her cruelly, a ruling by the Court of Appeal. 0:30:56.450 --> 0:30:57.650 Was not far off. 0:31:02.130 --> 0:31:05.810 Few people had previously had the courage to contradict Godard, 0:31:06.370 --> 0:31:09.530 even after his death in nineteen seventy one, but the 0:31:09.570 --> 0:31:13.610 appeal judge was shocked by his handling of Derrek's case. 0:31:14.290 --> 0:31:17.450 He concluded that the Lord Chief Justice had not only 0:31:17.570 --> 0:31:21.010 denied Derrek a fair trial, but had done all he 0:31:21.090 --> 0:31:26.890 could to push the jury to convict. Overturning that conviction, 0:31:27.410 --> 0:31:30.650 the appeal judge said, it must be a matter of 0:31:30.850 --> 0:31:36.610 profound and continuing regret that this mistrial occurred, and that 0:31:36.650 --> 0:31:40.530 the defects we have found were not recognized at the time. 0:31:42.170 --> 0:31:48.330 Derek Bentley's remaining family rejoiced, and so did Christopher Craig, 0:31:49.610 --> 0:31:53.170