|
James Hanratty (4 October 1936 – 4 April 1962) was one of the last people in the UK to be executed for murder. He was hanged at Bedford Gaol on 4 April 1962, after being convicted of the murder of scientist Michael Gregsten, who was shot dead in a car on the A6 at Deadman's Hill, near Clophill, Bedfordshire in August 1961. Gregsten's mistress, Valerie Storie, aged 22, was raped, shot five times and left paralysed. According to Storie, the couple were abducted at gunpoint in their car at Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, by a man with a Cockney accent and mannerisms matching Hanratty's. The gunman ordered Gregsten to drive in several directions, before stopping beside the A6 at Deadman's Hill, where the offences took place. The prime suspects were Hanratty, a petty criminal, and Peter Louis Alphon, an eccentric drifter. In police line-ups, Storie did not recognise Alphon, but positively identified Hanratty. This testimony was critical in securing a guilty verdict at the trial. The verdict was questioned by many who felt the supporting evidence was too weak to justify conviction. However, a DNA test in 2002 proved Hanratty's guilt, according to the Court of Appeal, "beyond doubt". ==Childhood and adolescence== James Hanratty was born on 4 October 1936 in Farnborough, Kent, the eldest of four sons of James Francis Hanratty (1907-1978) and his wife Mary Ann Hanratty (1917-1999).〔GRO Register of Deaths SEP 1978 11 0739 BRENT - James Francis Hanratty, DoB = 3 October 1907〕〔GRO Register of Marriages DEC 1936 2a 1724 BROMLEY - James Hanratty = Mary A. Wilson〕〔GRO Register of Deaths JUL 1999 C81A 2421C 97 LEWISHAM - Mary Ann Hanratty, DoB = 4 April 1917〕〔GRO Register of Births DEC 1936 2a 1038 BROMLEY - James Hanratty, mmn = Wilson〕 By 1937, the family had moved to Wembley in northwest London. Hanratty's early years were much troubled. Long before his trial for the A6 murder, he had already been described as a retard, a psychopath, and a pathological liar. By the age of 11 he had been declared ineducable at St James Catholic High School, Burnt Oak (nowadays Barnet), although his parents steadfastly refused to accept he was in any way mentally deficient and successfully resisted attempts to have him placed in a school for the educationally sub-normal. After leaving St James Catholic High School in 1951 aged 15, and still illiterate, Hanratty joined the Public Cleansing Department of Wembley Borough Council as a refuse sorter. In July the following year he fell from his bicycle, injuring his head and remaining unconscious for 10 hours; he was admitted to Wembley Hospital for nine days. Shortly after his discharge, Hanratty left home for Brighton, where he obtained casual work with a road haulier. Eight weeks later he was found semi-conscious in the street, having apparently collapsed from either hunger or exposure. Initially admitted to the Royal Sussex Hospital, Brighton, he was transferred to St Francis' Hospital, Haywards Heath, where he underwent a craniotomy following the erroneous diagnosis of a brain haemorrhage. The report made there acknowledged his unhappy home background (he claimed he was frightened of his mother and had no filial feelings towards his father) and his mental deficiency. No precise diagnoses were offered, and it has since been suggested that he suffered from either epilepsy or post-concussional syndrome, which would have had a marked effect on his personality.〔 Sent to recuperate at an aunt's home in Bedford, a place he and his brother Michael had visited as children on holiday, Hanratty found a job driving a mechanical shovel for a company called 'Green Brothers' which made breeze blocks, and remained with the firm for three years. It was about 1954 that Hanratty became attracted to Soho, where he frequented various clubs and other haunts of the criminal underworld. Significantly, he befriended Charles 'Dixie' France. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Hanratty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|