James Hanratty (4 October 1936, Bromley, Kent – 4 April 1962, Bedford Prison, Bedford) was the eighth-to-last person in Britain to be hanged for murder after being convicted of carrying out the 1961 "A6 murder" committed on the main path at Maulden Wood. The guilt of the later convicts was never in doubt, but Hanratty's guilt has been disputed. Hanratty, a professional car thief, was convicted of the murder of Michael Gregsten at Deadman's Hill o...
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James Hanratty (4 October 1936, Bromley, Kent – 4 April 1962, Bedford Prison, Bedford) was the eighth-to-last person in Britain to be hanged for murder after being convicted of carrying out the 1961 "A6 murder" committed on the main path at Maulden Wood. The guilt of the later convicts was never in doubt, but Hanratty's guilt has been disputed. Hanratty, a professional car thief, was convicted of the murder of Michael Gregsten at Deadman's Hill on the A6, near the village of Clophill, Bedfordshire, England, on 22 August 1961. Further, Gregsten's companion Valerie Storie was raped and shot non-fatally during the incident. Charges on these additional crimes were kept in reserve. (In his 1997 book, Hanratty: The Final Verdict, Macmillan ISBN 0-333-71015-0, Bob Woffinden incorrectly states that Hanratty's full name was James Francis Hanratty. This was the name of his father, Hanratty himself having no middle name.)
The case was a cause célèbre for opponents of capital punishment in the...
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