IF EVER there was an argument for the abolition of capital punishment, it is the clearing of teenager Derek Bentley of the murder a police officer for which he was hanged 45 years ago.
It has taken all this time and a long legal judgment to recognise what ordinary people have known all along - that poor, backward Bentley went to the gallows because a policeman was shot and the determination that someone must hang for it.
That determination was contributed to by many - not least the bullying Lord Chief Justice Lord Goddard who denied him a fair trail, the policemen who put words in his mouth and the political decision to let Bentley hang for something it was acknowledged he did not do.
Perhaps those responsible were influenced by the mood of the times. But what of those since who so resolutely denied Bentley's appeal for so long?
How can they sleep easy now?
And how could they ever?
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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