Case Study: Derek Bentley

Question 1

Public Opinion:

Answer 1

1. On the night of his execution 5,000 protesters met outside Wandsworth Prison chanting ‘Murder’
2. Campaigned for over 40 years
3. Pardoned in 1993
4. 1998 conviction for murder was quashed

Question 2

Case for prosecution:

Answer 2

1. Craig fired the gun. Bentley shouted ‘Let him have it’. Jointly responsible
2. Has been in youth detention-history
3. Low level of intelligence

Question 3

Case for defence:

Answer 3

1. Could mean let the policeman have the gun
2. Questions about whether he really said it
3. Didn’t have a weapon, handed himself over to the police
4. Learning disability and a mental age of 10

Question 4

Sentencing:

Answer 4

1. Craig cannot be hanged-under 18 long term prison term
2. Guilty of murder under joint enterprise law
3. Sentenced to death by hanging

Question 5

Impact in parliament:

Answer 5

1. David Maxwell Fye, home secretary at the time of the trial ‘There is no possibility of an innocent man being hanged.’
2. 200 MPs called for Bentley’s reprieve, before they could debate the motion the death sentence had been carried out
3. 1957, Homicide Act made allowances for defendants suffering from diminished responsibility-reduced to manslaughter