Call for Fire: Sea Combat in the Falklands and the Gulf War

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Far from being homicidal, Mr Fitzgerald said Derek Bentley had shown "complete co-operation" with the police from the time of his capture. Heard, Brian J. (2011). Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics: Examining and Interpreting Forensic Evidence. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 978-1-119-96477-3. Derek Bentley entered Norbury Manor Secondary Modern School in 1944, after failing the eleven-plus examination. Just before leaving, in March 1948, he and another boy were arrested for theft. Six months later, Bentley was sentenced to serve three years at Kingswood Approved School near Bristol. Christopher Craig also attended the same Secondary Modern school. On 28 January 1953, Derek Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison. The execution caused public unrest, with mass protests outside the prison and the arrests of two people. The flaws of the Derek Bentley case saw a change in public opinion about capital punishment in the United Kingdom. Let's explore the arguments for and against the death penalty at the time.

It would seem that Bentley made legal history by being the first to be hanged as an accomplice in a crime for which the principal in the first degree could not be executed on the grounds of age. 2 The case appeared to be a relatively simple one for the prosecution. However, as the trial progressed before Lord Chief Justice Lord Goddard at the Old Bailey, the prosecution case appeared far less certain. The police seemed unsure how many shots were fired and by whom. A ballistics expert failed to positively identify Craig's gun as the weapon that fired the bullet that killed PC Miles. Also what was meant by Bentley's phrase "Let him have it Chris"? Did he mean that Craig was to give the gun to the officer and surrender? Did he mean that Craig was to shot the officer? Various appeals highlighted the ambiguous evidence, Bentley's mental age and the fact that he did not fire the fatal shot, were all rejected by the then Home Secretary. Bentley was originally scheduled to be hanged on 30 December 1952 but this was postponed to allow for an appeal. Bentley's lawyers filed appeals highlighting the ambiguities of the ballistic evidence, Bentley's mental age and the fact that he did not fire the fatal shot. Bentley's appeal was heard on 13 January 1953 and was unsuccessful.Bentley had a series of health problems. His parents reported that in a childhood accident he had broken his nose and since then he had three seizure fits, including one in which they said he nearly died of choking. [1] The family also said they were bombed out three times during the Second World War, and in one of these incidents the house in which he lived collapsed around him, but a court did not find any indication that he was physically injured in the incident. However, Bentley was later seen to have epilepsy. [2] :102 When Yallop telephoned Haler the day after the initial interview, he reportedly confirmed his estimate of the bullet size. Shortly before the publication of Yallop's book, Haler was provided with a transcript of the interview, and Yallop says Haler again confirmed as accurate. After the subsequent broadcast of the BBC Play for Today adaptation of To Encourage the Others, directed by Alan Clarke and starring Charles Bolton, Haler sought to deny that he had given any specific estimate of the size of the bullet that killed Miles beyond being "of large calibre". The .32 ACP bullet is not considered to be of large calibre. Also known as Common Purpose, Joint Enterprise involves crimes of two or more people. The law means that a secondary offender can be prosecuted as the principal offender if they intended to assist the main offender in their crime. The Crown alleged at Bentley's trial in 1952 that the crucial words were those of an angry young man urging his accomplice, Christopher Craig to shoot.

Bentley's sister Iris mounted a lifelong campaign to quash Bentley's conviction after he was executed at Wandsworth Prison in January 1953.December 1952, Craig and Bentley were charged with murder and appeared at the Old Bailey in London. Craig and Bentley denied that Bentley had said, 'Let him have it, Chris'. Furthermore, it was debated whether Bentley was asking Craig to hand over his weapon or whether to open fire. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. While the principle of joint enterprise remains controversial today, using such legal precedent in coalition with a capital punishment case was unique. The fact that Derek Bentley was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit prompted uproar among the British public and accelerated the anti-capital punishment movement. Today, after 46 years, the conviction of Derek Bentley has been quashed and his name cleared. While I am grateful and relieved about this, I am saddened