Derek Bentley

During World War II a young Derek Bentley’s house was bombed. He was left with serious head wounds and a learning disability. At the age of 15 he had the mental age of a 10-year-old and an IQ of 66. In the days before political correctness he was described as “borderline feeble-minded” and “quite illiterate”. At the age of 21 Bentley tried to join the army but was deemed “mentally substandard” and refused entry.

In November 1952, the same year he was rejected from the army, Bentley and a 16-year-old accomplice – Christopher Craig (pictured below) – decided to conduct a robbery of a local warehouse. Craig had a sawn off revolver and Bentley had a knuckle-duster and knife that Craig had given him.

A little girl saw them clambering up the drain pipe from a house across the street so her mum called the fuzz.

An officer climbed onto the roof and grabbed Bentley who pulled free from his grasp. The officer asked for the gun from Craig and Bentley allegedly shouted “Let him have it, Chris”. This would later become a bone of contention in court, did he mean “shoot him” or “give him the gun”? Whatever he meant, Craig shot the officer in the shoulder. Despite his injury the officer managed to keep hold of Bentley.

A group of officers soon joined the foray on the roof, the first man to get up there was immediately shot in the head and died. Craig ran out of ammo and dived off the roof fracturing his spine and left wrist.

Craig was under the age where the death penalty could be given so Bentley, despite not having injured anyone, and been mentally subnormal was sentenced to hang. Dr. Hill, a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital put together a report that said Bentley was illiterate and of low intelligence, almost borderline retarded but the judge was unphased. Bentley appealed but was unsuccessful. The Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe, even after reading Dr Hill’s report and despite a petition signed by over 200 of his fellow MPs, refused to request clemency from the Queen. Parliament was not allowed to debate Bentley’s sentence until it had been carried out. The Home Office also refused Dr. Hill permission to make his report public. What a stink.

Craig on the other hand was out after serving 10 years and went on to be a plumbing engineer.

I think we can all agree that it’s a good job the death penalty is long gone in this country.

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