James Hanratty (4 October 1936 4 April 1962), also known as the A6 Murderer, was a British criminal who was one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was effectively abolished. Still can't find what you're looking for? Michael Gregsten, was shot dead in a car on the A6 in Bedfordshire in August 1961, but Hanratty claimed to be in North Wales resort . If you do as I tell you, you will be all right." I do this act in the knowledge that it will clear my family's character of any act or wrong'. [32][33], While some of the original items of physical evidence were destroyed, the sample from Miss Storie's underwear had been discovered in 1991 and, in late-1997, the handkerchief was subsequently found in the possession of the Berkshire police. Following her death, author Paul Stickler was handed Valerie's extensive notes and files, allowing her story to finally be told. Hi, It's truly a crying shame that all the postings on this fascinating forum have been lost, seemingly for ever. If you do as I tell you, you will be all right.'. cid exam previous question papers. Hanratty would be convicted after a trial lasting almost four weeks but his execution marked the beginning of a forty-year journey of cries of a miscarriage of justice, media frenzies, legal arguments, criticism of the police, a referral to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and finally a Court of Appeal ruling in 2002 when DNA evidence would finally put an end to the furore; he was indeed guilty. Michael wound down his window, only halfway, when a gun was thrust through the gap, its muzzle pointing directly at them. The pair tracked down Peter Alphon in February 1962, and began a long friendship with him for the purposes of establishing the truth. After holding them at gunpoint for two hours, Hanratty told Michael to start driving because he wanted food. Through the window of the car and despite the fading light, she could clearly see that he was wearing a suit and tie with a white shirt. Storie then left the car and returned to sit beside Gregsten's body. Two civil servants employed at the Road Research Laboratory at Langley, near Slough, Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie, drew up in a Morris Minor car outside the Old Station Inn, a public house just outside the village of Taplow. We choose the most important stories of the day to include in the email, including crime, court news, long reads, traffic and travel, food and drink articles and more. On 7 September 1954, aged 17, Hanratty appeared before Harrow Magistrates' where he was placed on probation for taking a motor vehicle without consent, and for driving without a licence or insurance. Neutral Citation Number (2002) Crim 1141, 'Musing about The A6 Bedfordshire murder', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Hanratty&oldid=1135732016. James Hanratty was later tried, convicted and executed for the murder of Michael John Gregsten on the A6 road. [citation needed]. [15][16] Storie, an only child, lived with her parents in Cippenham, a suburb of Slough. He leaves two sons, aged seven and two. Professor Hobbs described Valerie as a 'bloody minded and determined' woman with a charming character. I could not ever relax.". He argued that the evidence may have been contaminated because of lax handling procedures.[34][40]. It details 22 attempts made by Michael and Valerie to escape or frustrate the gunman, including hatching a plan to drive into a policeman if they came across one on the journey in order to get his attention. When this evidence went to court in 2002, proving Hanratty's guilt beyond any doubt, reporters once again hounded Valerie to speak. He leaves two sons, aged seven and two. She identified James Hanratty as her attacker during an identity parade. A brown, check car rug was spread out; another small, personalised feature of the rallying Morris. Usher admitted remembering Hanratty and the suitcase, and partly remembered the name of the man as 'Ratty'; he was located by private detectives working for the defence, but was never called as a witness. Storie was an assistant at the same laboratory and had been having an affair with Gregsten, although this did not become public knowledge until Storie wrote a series of articles for the popular Today magazine in June 1962, five months after the trial. He said: "Whenever journalists came to her asking to tell her story she said no, as they'd misrepresent her. [citation needed]. Long before his trial for the A6 murder, he had already been described as a retard, a psychopath, and a pathological liar. [12] Kerr alerted Sydney Burton, a farm labourer, who flagged down two cars and asked the drivers to call an ambulance. Ingrams said that Alphon, in conversations with Foot and others, had spoken "obsessively about the case, frequently incriminating himself". After forcing them to drive 60 miles, gunman James Hanratty murdered Michael before raping Valerie and emptying a number of rounds into her body. He then ordered Storie to drag Gregsten's body out of the car to the edge of the lay-by 2 or 3 metres away, before ordering her back into the car to start it for him and demonstrate the operation of the gears and switches. She was able to see only the body of the man between his waist and shoulders, but his smart appearance seemed at odds with his threatening behaviour. Yet in spite of this, Valerie kept her silence, Paul explained. The hotel manager, William Nudds, made a statement to police naming the last occupant of the room as 'James Ryan'. Valentine's Day collision leaves moped rider with 'life-changing' injuries. His DNA was found on a piece of material from Valerie Stories knickers where it would be expected to be if he was guilty; it was also found on the handkerchief found with the gun. Gregsten's girlfriend, Valerie Storie, was raped, shot five times, and left paralysed. He also wrote a letter to the coroner, in which he referred to the great harm done to the family by Hanratty. RM ID: B5E30P Preview Image details Contributor: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo File size: 30 MB (1.3 MB Compressed download) Releases: (Known as the 'A6 Murderer' Known for Killing Scientist 'Michael Gregsten') 3 3 Birthdate: October 4, 1936 Sun Sign: Libra Birthplace: Bromley, Kent, England Died: April 4, 1962 Better known as the A6 Murderer, James Hanratty was one of the last people to be executed before capital punishment was abolished. She told them: "I have never had a problem with the truth. Forensic science and the case of James Hanratty, England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions. The prosecution produced witnesses attesting that all the rooms were already occupied at the time and accused Mrs Jones of being an unreliable witness. Find Janet Gregsten stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Of approximately seven bullets fired, five hit Storie; she fell to the ground next to Gregsten and played dead. All of this money was anonymously donated to Slough Mobility Transport for the purchase of two new vehicles, one of which was named 'Valerie'. As a result of these facts, after the A6 murder, Valerie was often unfairly characterised as a "loose woman". Michael Gregsten with his wife Janet before he was murdered in his car on the A6 by James Hanratty. Neutral Citation Number: [2002] Crim 1141", "James Hanratty: Close to a final verdict? Despatched to the youth wing of Wormwood Scrubs, he slashed his wrists; placed in the prison hospital, he was declared a 'potential psychopath'. [citation needed] Hanratty's defence claimed that Mrs Dinwoodie was mistaken about the date. As she told food network, "i learned more about myself with every battle and i learned more how deeply talented the other warriors in this tournament are. That's basically taking the rest of his brothers life with him, since he knew he wouldn't be cleared. When Valerie died and her papers were given to me I became determined to retell the story with her perspective at its heart. But then the other suspect, Peter Alphon, publicly confesses to the crime. Her testimony was critical in securing a guilty verdict, but this was questioned by many who felt the supporting evidence too weak to justify conviction, and Hanratty's brother fought for decades to have the verdict overturned. Snus is a pasteurized, air-cured, smokeless and spitless tobacco, usually found in pouches. Secretly, however, she was drafting the contents of a book and writing hundreds of notes. By the age of 11 he had been declared ineducable at St James Catholic High School, Burnt Oak, 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 special school. [citation needed]. 83 Michael Gregsten Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC BLOG BROWSE PRICING ENTERPRISE VisualGPS INSIGHTS BOARDS CART SIGN IN Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO According to this, Hanratty had gone to Rhyl to sell a stolen watch to a 'fence', arriving there in the evening of Tuesday 22 August and staying in a boarding house near the railway line. Inside a parked Morris Minor was a 36-year-old scientist, Michael Gregsten, and his 22-year-old girlfriend, Valerie Storie. The gunman replied that Gregsten had frightened him by turning too quickly. No defence on the basis of mental history was raised at Hanrattys trial. By the time of his arrest for the murder of Michael Gregsten, Hanratty had already accumulated four convictions for motoring offences and housebreaking. This is a hold-up," a mans voice said. But when Michael reached for the bag Hanratty shot him twice in the head, killing him instantly. The other piece of evidence tested, a sample from Valerie Storie's underwear, provided two different sets of male DNA - one that corresponded to Hanratty; and one which the Court of Appeal interpreted as coming from Gregsten.[34]. They kissed only once. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. Journalists such as Paul Foot and Bob Woffinden campaigned for years to prove Hanratty's innocence, casting doubt on Valerie's evidence. She didn't change her story one iota.'. James Hanratty denied shooting Michael Gregsten, a physicist, twice in the head last August. The Police tracked down a Mrs Dinwoodie, who served in a sweetshop in Scotland Road, and who recalled a man like Hanratty asking for directions. [31] Woffinden wrote that there is no evidence that the witnesses even saw the same Morris Minor. The case involved the death of a man who lived not far from Hanratty and Mr Stickler thinks he could have heard about it while he was in prison for house breaking. At about 1.30am on August 23, Hanratty told Michael to pull into a lay-by at Deadman's Hill and to hand over his duffle bag. A man threatened the couple with a gun. What was going to happen to them? It was about 1954 that Hanratty became attracted to Soho, where he frequented various clubs and other haunts of the criminal underworld. France, who had suffered from bouts of severe depression for many years, committed suicide by gassing himself (his third attempt) about two weeks before the execution. [34][37][39], At the appeal hearing in 2002, Michael Mansfield QC, the barrister acting for the Hanratty family, said that a vial, among surviving evidential items, had been broken which could account for contamination. [8], Gregsten was a scientist at the Road Research Laboratory in Slough. Justice took the precaution of making thorough notes, and recording all telephone conversations with Alphon. She identified Hanratty from a lineup and testified at his trial. "They then left at about 7.30pm in a grey Morris car which I understood belonged to Michael's mother. As 22-year-old Valerie Storie stepped out of her home on August 22, 1961, she shouted to her parents "Goodbye, I shan't be late". At about 9pm on August 22, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, and his girlfriend Valerie Storie, 22, were sitting in their Morris Minor 1000 car in a lay-by at Dorney Reach, Buckinghamshire, when. Paul Foot and some other campaigners argued elsewhere that the DNA evidence could have been contaminated, in view of the fact that the small DNA samples from items of clothing, kept in a police laboratory for over 40 years in conditions that, as they argue, "do not satisfy modern evidential standards", had to be subjected to amplification techniques to yield any genetic profile. Mr Stickler remains interested in pursuing the story further and is looking into another case which he believes might have inspired Hanratty. Since his death Hanratty's family and supporters have fought to prove that, although a petty crook, he was not a killer. The comments below have not been moderated, By 1985: West German spy chief defects to East, Man finds A6 murder weapon - broadcast 25 August 1961. Police believe the couple, both employees of the Road Research Laboratory near Slough, were confronted by a man with a gun as they were parked on Dorney Common in Berkshire yesterday evening. Michael Gregston was murdered by James Hanratty 1962. In August 1961, Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie were sitting in their car in Dorney Reach, UK when an intruder forced his way into the backseat brandishing a gun. Storie and Gregsten pleaded with him not to shoot them. The Court concludes that this number of alleged coincidences mean that they are not coincidences but provide overwhelming proof of the safety of the conviction from an evidential perspective. [citation needed] Police went back to Nudds, the hotel manager (who himself had a lengthy criminal record for fraud and other offences), who now said that his second statement was a lie, and his first statement, implicating 'Ryan', was in fact true. Ingrams said that Foot continued until his own death in 2004 to believe in Hanratty's alibi, despite the DNA tests of 2002. [29] Fox split from Jean Justice in the 1970s, but continued the fight to clear Hanratty until his death in 1999, three years before the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on the basis of the DNA evidence retrieved from Hanratty's corpse. Peter Alphon died in January 2009 after a fall at his home. On Tuesday, 22nd August, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, a research physicist, called at the address of his estranged wife at Sabine House, Abbots Langley, and. Flatline intro and Come play with me intro and outro www.dl-sounds.com, Logo and website design Paulina Szymanska, James Hanratty: The A6 Murder Crime Files, Tributes pour in for Sloughs brave Valerie Storie Slough & South Bucks Observer, Man is charged with A6 murder The Guardian, Court told of A6 car chase The Guardian, Calls to Yard in A6 case The Guardian, Hanratty family in new appeal against murder conviction BBC News, Police denial of concealing evidence The Guardian, Lay by murder gun identified The Guardian, New search in lay by murder The Guardian, Lennon film on the A6 murder found The Observer, Fresh confession revives Hanratty doubts The Guardian, Appeal court to reveal Hanratty murder case The Guardian, DNA hampers effort to clear Hanratty The Guardian, Murder casebook: James Hanratty Crime and Investigation Network, A miscarriage of justice? More than 300 homes approved as part of new Luton development, Improvements are set to be made to surrounding roads as part of the development. After some investigation, 'Ryan' turned out to be James Hanratty, a 25-year-old petty criminal with four convictions for car theft, larceny and burglary. Shortly after his discharge, Hanratty left home for Brighton, where he obtained casual work with a road haulier. With the gun still pointing at them, the man said, I have been on the run for four months. Two suspects were spotlighted for the attack, which was dubbed The A6 Murder. James Hanratty was eventually charged and executed, despite claiming his innocence. His companion, 22-year-old laboratory assistant, Valerie Storie, from Cippenham, near Slough, had been raped and shot five times in the chest. 22:52, 05 Apr 2022. I therefore have no fear of him. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Nudds also now added that Alphon had left the hotel 'calm and composed'. Signing up to the newsletter is simple. When she refused, the man got out and forced her out of the car at gunpoint, pushing her on to the back seat, where he ordered her to undo her brassiere and remove her underwear before raping her. Pre-pay for multiple images and download on demand. Mr Gregsten's body was tonight identified by his wife, Janet. On Tuesday, 22nd August, 1961, Michael Gregsten, 36, a research physicist, called at the address of his estranged wife at Sabine House, Abbots Langley, and after taking his 9-year old son, Simon, to play in Cassiobury Park, Watford, he collected his girlfriend, Valerie Storie, 22, from work, and he and Storie went in Gregsten's Morris Minor to Sign up here. There was plenty of evidence that Hanratty had been in London all day on Monday 21 August: in the morning he had deposited a suit into a dry cleaners' in Swiss Cottage; he had been to his friend Charles France's house on the Monday afternoon, and visited the Vienna Hotel in the evening. Michael Gregsten's widow later went on to have an affair with her brother in law William Ewer, who left his wife. In 2002 Valerie was finally vindicated when DNA evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that Hanratty was guilty. 22nd August 1961, Michael Gregsten a 36-year-old research scientist at the Road Research Laboratory at Langley, near Slough. It was clear he either had not driven before, or was unfamiliar with a Morris Minor. circa 1962. In March 1958, aged 21, at the County of London Sessions, Hanratty was again convicted of car theft, and of driving while disqualified, and sentenced to three years' corrective training at Wandsworth Prison, and then to Maidstone Prison. Author Paul Stickler said: 'This is a story that really does need to be told and it's not been told in the way that it should be before now. Gregsten had been hit twice in the head and died instantly. DESCRIPTIONIn August 1961, a couple by the name of Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie were sitting in their Morris Minor car in Dorney Reach, UK, when an in. Hanratty was initially buried in the grounds of Bedford Gaol, but, on 22 February 1966, his remains were exhumed and re-interred in a grave at Watford, later shared with his aunt.[22][23]. She was always absolutely certain that she was right, there was no question about that.'. Hanratty became one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was abolished, but the others that came after him were seen as 'more clear cut' cases, so the idea of Hanratty's innocence became a beacon for those opposing capital punished. Justice attended the trial every day, being driven there by his chauffeur, and Alphon accompanied him from time to time. They covered about 30 miles before the gunman ordered Gregsten to pull into a lay-by on the A6 at Clophill at around 01 . In October 1955, aged 18, Hanratty appeared at the County of Middlesex Sessions, where he was sentenced to two terms of two years' imprisonment, to run concurrently, for housebreaking and theft. The A6 Committee made a list of claims which, they contended, indicated that Alphon was the murderer: Paul Foot warned "against jumping to hasty conclusions, in particular about Peter Alphon he really didn't know as much as he pretended. Hanratty found a job there driving a mechanical shovel for the company of Green Brothers, which made breeze blocks, and remained with the firm for three years. Where was the money going to come from? At about 1.30am on Wednesday 23 August, the car was on the A6, travelling south, when the man said he wanted a 'kip' (sleep). Search for stock images, vectors and videos, Available for editorial use only. He started to bombard his own solicitor with threatening phone calls and letters.

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