After a 44-year fight to clear his name, the relatives of Derek Bentley, who was hanged in 1953 for his alleged part in the murder of a policeman, were told yesterday that his case has been sent back to the Court of Appeal in London.
In referring Bentley's case back to the Court of Appeal, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which was set up in April to look at cases of alleged miscarriages of justice, has cleared the way for Bentley's conviction to be quashed and for him to be granted a posthumous royal pardon.
Campaigners have long said that Bentley, who was 19 when he was hanged and had a mental age of 11 (which was not revealed to the original jury), should never have faced the death penalty.
Bentley's sister, Iris, who campaigned for decades to clear his name, died earlier this year. "I cannot really believe it - it is just wonderful. But I just wish my mother was alive to see this day. It was what she fought for for so long and she would have been so happy," her daughter, Ms Maria Bentley-Dingwall, said yesterday.
"Today has gone some way to restoring some of my faith in the British justice system. My family has had to go through so much and knowing your son or brother has been hanged is terrible. I have been waiting for this for so long that I can hardly believe it is happening, but it is long, long overdue," she said.
The CCRC is understood to have made its decision after the Bentley family solicitors, Benedict Bornberg, presented a 50-page report, including a medical report which was not revealed at Bentley's trial. This indicated he was, in the phrase of the time, "feeble-minded". The solicitors said last night there was now a real prospect "this oldest and most brutal miscarriage of justice" would be rectified.
The campaign to quash Bentley's conviction for his part in the murder of Constable Sidney Miles was led tirelessly until her death in January by Iris Bentley. It was a result of her determination not to let the issue rest that led the then Home Secretary, Mr Michael Howard, to grant Bentley a posthumous limited pardon in 1993. The pardon was limited to an admission that the death sentence should not have been passed on Bentley.His family was not satisfied with this.
Bentley's conviction hinged on words he was alleged to have shouted at his accomplice, Christopher Craig, who shot the policeman after the pair were caught attempting to rob a warehouse in south London. Bentley, who was being held back by police officers, was alleged to have shouted at Craig: "Let him have it, Chris," after which Craig shot the policeman. At their trial in the Old Bailey, the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard, told the jury that in law Bentley had equally fired the shot.
Controversy still surrounds the meaning of Bentley's words and a question mark was raised at the trial over whether he shouted the words at all. Bentley's defence argued he was trying to persuade Craig to give up his gun to the police while the prosecution said he was urging Craig to shoot the policeman. One of the police officers that took part in the arrest even suggested Bentley never said the words.
In the event, Lord Goddard's ruling led to a curious set of circumstances. Craig was aged 16 at the time and too young to hang so he was given a 10-year sentence. Although the jury recommended mercy for Bentley, Lord Goddard directed it that it had no option but to send the young man to his death.