CRIME STORIES BY ANNA FOULDS - James

CRIME STORIES

BY ANNA FOULDS

James Hanratty

It was 60 years ago this year that James Hanratty, also known as the A6 Murderer, was one of the last people to be executed before Capital Punishment was abolished. Although the police insist on his guilt, an appeal campaign was launched that lasted decades.

In August 1961, 22-year-old Valerie Storie and, 36-yearold Michael Gregsten were sitting in their car in a field in Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire. They were then approached by a man with a gun who ordered them to give him any valuables and start driving towards London. After driving for 60 miles and being told to pull into a layby on the A6 he shot Gregsten in the head and sexually assaulted Valerie Storie multiple times. She survived the ordeal after pretending to be dead but was paralysed from the chest down.

James Hanratty was born on 4 October 1936 in Farnborough, Kent but the family had moved to Wembley in northwest London early in his life. After a troubled childhood and an injury that led to him having to give up his first job, Hanratty got involved with the criminal underworld in SoHo by the time he was arrested for the A6 Murder he already had four convictions for motoring offences and housebreaking. Hanratty had been identified as a potential psychopath by two different Psychiatric institutions after being treated.

Hanratty, however, wasn’t the initial suspect in the murder investigation it was a man called Peter Alphon. Peter Alphon and James Hanratty were both staying at the same Hotel before the murder was committed. There were Spent cartridges from the murder weapon were discovered in a sofa in the hotel room from before the murder took place. Later, William Nudds the hotel Manager admitted that Hanratty had asked him the way to the 36a bus route which was where the gun was found in the back seat. Charles France a former friend of Hanratty told the police that he had previously told him that the best place to hide something that connected you to a crime was at the back of a bus.

Peter Alphon became a suspect after attacking a woman and saying, “I am the A6 Murderer”. When in an identification parade Valerie Storie did not identify Alphon instead identified an innocent man.

After Hanratty was identified as a suspect he briefly went on the run before being recognized by two Detective constables in a fish and chip restaurant. Unlike Alphon, Hanratty was identified by Valerie Storie in the identification parade, but some argue this was because they were asked to say the phrase “shut up I’m thinking” and Hanratty was the only one in the parade to have a cockney accent like the Murderer.

Hanratty changed his alibi during the case from initially saying he was in Liverpool at the time of the murder to later saying he was in Rhyl. This damaged his case even though there were possible witnesses to him being in Rhyl.

The trial was long-lasting 21 days. On the 17th February 1962, the Jury delivers a guilty verdict and Hanratty is condemned to death. An appeal is put forward along with a petition of 90,000 signatures but it is dismissed on the 9th March, and on 4 April 1962, 25-year-old James Hanratty is hanged.

There continues to be discussion around whether Hanratty was guilty or not. The case has been investigated and reopened multiple times. Two of the detective superintendents involved were found to have withheld key statements and evidence from the trial and were accused by Hanratty’s family of influencing the investigation. Hanratty’s DNA was found on Valarie’s underwear and the gun, however, it was also said later that due to the degradation, small amounts of DNA and the fact that many of the items used as evidence were stored together in the same box there could have been contamination especially as a vial had been broken. There is also the argument that if Hanratty was innocent there should have been a third DNA profile picked up on the evidence. The evidence was enough to satisfy the court of appeal in 2002 of James Hanratty’s guilt was beyond all reasonable doubt.

Having researched this case in order to write this article, I have also tried to work out for myself whether I think that Hanratty was guilty or if at the very least there was enough evidence to convict him. I think the key with this case is that the two questions are more separate than in many other cases. Almost everything in the straightforward facts of this case makes me think that Hanratty was guilty but the fact that there was a possible alibi, the mistakes, possible contamination, and another suspect does make me think that the Jury were hasty to find him guilty. Guilt should be found if it is beyond reasonable doubt that they did it and to me, there is reasonable doubt in this case.