The attack on Swedish housewife Mrs Meike Dalal on Thursday, September 7th 1961

[NickB]

Thanks Sherlock. That explains it.

[Sherlock Houses]

2] Mr Dutton made no mention of anything unusual about the appearance of the young man - nothing, for example, about his hair colour which, as we know, other claimed sightings in Rhyl made mention of.

Trevor Dutton remarked about the young man's clothing. According to Mr Dutton he was wearing 'a two-toned, dark grey and light grey suit' [Foot book p.264]. Considering that this was at the height of summer it must have seemed unusual to see a young man wearing a suit, especially at a seaside resort. Most young men would have been more appropriately and casually dressed in summer clothing. It's probably why Mr Dutton remembered him.

3] Mr Dutton stated that he would not be able to recognise the young man again.

Not so. What Mr Dutton actually said in his statement of February 9th 1962 was " Although I have not been able to describe this man, I think I would be able to say either that I had never seen him before or that he was the man who offered me the watch" [Woffinden book p.232.]

4] Hanratty himself made no mention of trying to sell a gold watch in Rhyl.

Mr Dutton may well have been just one of many people in a heaving Rhyl that this young man tried to sell the gold watch to. Less than 24 hours earlier in Liverpool Hanratty had tried to sell a gold watch at Reynolds Billiard Hall.




It's rather revealing that Mr Dutton should describe the young man's accent as being 'possibly Irish or cockney or a mixture of the two'. William Nudds in his persuasive and very detailed second statement described Hanratty's accent as being 'possibly Irish'. Exactly the same phrase that Mr Dutton used.

What I find compelling about Mr Dutton's evidence is that the August 23rd incident with this young man took place in Rhyl High Street. Hanratty stated that on that very same morning he went for a shave at a hairdressers in the High Street where there were three or four barbers. He also went into Woolworths in the High Street.

[NickB]

The Daily Post in Liverpool reported that Hanratty said he remembered trying to sell a watch to a wellbuilt man in the High Street. Is this correct?

[Graham]

Trevor Dutton remarked about the young man's clothing. According to Mr Dutton he was wearing 'a two-toned, dark grey and light grey suit' [Foot book p.264]. Considering that this was at the height of summer it must have seemed unusual to see a young man wearing a suit, especially at a seaside resort. Most young men would have been more appropriately and casually dressed in summer clothing. It's probably why Mr Dutton remembered him

This was in a much less informal age, SH. Young men on holiday didn't all loaf around in baggy shorts and T-shirts. Maybe the man Dutton recalled was on his lunch-break from a bank or a building-society....

Not so. What Mr Dutton actually said in his statement of February 9th 1962 was " Although I have not been able to describe this man, I think I would be able to say either that I had never seen him before or that he was the man who offered me the watch" [Woffinden book p.232.]

A bit vague, to say the least. Foot simply says that Dutton said he probably wouldn't be able to recognise the man again. Other Rhyl 'witnesses' mentioned his hair; Dutton did not.

The question concerning Hanratty's accent is vexing. I repeat, Sherrard said he had 'a normal and average young Londoner's voice', and when he was examined by an expert in speech and phonetics, he was described as having 'no detectable dialectical traits' (Lord Russell of Liverpool, repeated in Miller P50.) My wife was born in Dublin and lived there until she was 14, and she hasn't a trace of an Irish accent unless she deliberately puts it on. Which is perhaps what Hanratty could do, if he so desired. Who knows? There is no known recording of his voice.

I believe Gillbanks spoke to all the barbers in Rhyl, and drew a blank.

Nudds' second statement was made with Acott's prompting (and no doubt threats) to strengthen his, Acott's, then belief that Alphon was the A6 killer.
Apart from which, Nudds was a professional liar and a police informer, and virtually anything he said must be open to serious question.

Graham

[Graham]

The Daily Post in Liverpool reported that Hanratty said he remembered trying to sell a watch to a wellbuilt man in the High Street. Is this correct?

Interesting, but do we know who he said it to? He certainly said he tried to sell a watch to Mr Kempt in Liverpool. There's a photo of Mr Dutton with others of the "A6 Committee" in Foot's book - it's hard to tell if he's 'well built'. He seems quite short compared with the people he's standing with.

Graham

[Sherlock Houses]

"Reggie Fellows" ??

The Daily Post in Liverpool reported that Hanratty said he remembered trying to sell a watch to a wellbuilt man in the High Street. Is this correct?

That's a very interesting website, "The Free Library".
Came across the following article from it [Daily Mirror Jan 28th 1997].......

James Hanratty, hanged 35 years ago for the notorious A6 murder, could soon be cleared with the help of a new witness.
Petty crook Hanratty, 25, went to the gallows protesting his innocence of the killing of Government scientist Michael Gregsten and Gregsten's girlfriend Valerie Storie, who was raped and left paralysed.
Now 65-year-old Joan Blackstone has broken her silence and named a man called "Reggie Fellows" as the real killer.
She has given sworn statements and is prepared to testify in court.
Home Secretary Michael Howard is expected to refer the case to the Appeal Court following a new police inquiry into the 1961 shootings on the A6 in Bedfordshire.
The inquiry is believed to have cleared Hanratty.
Mrs Blackstone, who lives in Essex, says she met "Reggie Fellows" in London the week before the killing.
He said he was going to murder Gregsten and gave other details which later convinced her of his guilt.
Another former criminal, Peter Alphon, has been accused by Hanratty campaigners but insists he is innocent.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/New+witness+in+battle+to+clear+hanged+Hanratty.-a061115715

[Natalie Severn]

Interesting, but do we know who he said it to? He certainly said he tried to sell a watch to Mr Kempt in Liverpool. There's a photo of Mr Dutton with others of the "A6 Committee" in Foot's book - it's hard to tell if he's 'well built'. He seems quite short compared with the people he's standing with.

Graham

Sherrard said he did not know anything about Mr Dutton or his statement until Dutton went to the A6 committee regarding making a statement to Abergele police on 9th February 1962 6 years later .

What I do know is a] Trevor Dutton was a man of reputed integrity
and
b]that Rhyl High Street in 1961 was a respectable street and any person appearing out of a shop doorway trying to sell a gold watch would have been a very rare occurrence that would have raised quite a few eyebrows .

Its true Rhyl would still have had lots of holiday makers and Hanratty might have tried to sell the gold watch elsewhere of course and had he done so I imagine few if any people around those arcades would have made a mental note of it whereas somebody like Mr Dutton would have.

To answer your point Graham, about Hanratty getting on a train from London Euston after such an outrageous crime and heading off for Rhyl.Yes- that is a possibility I suppose - he could have caught a train to Crewe and then changed for Rhyl and been there late morning on 23rd .Rhyl High Street at the Barclays Bank end adjoins Kinmel Street and Rhyl Railway Station but that has to be put against others who say they saw him in Rhyl that night 22nd -for example Mr Larman who could not have seen him any other day as he was off to Staines on the 23rd and Margaret Walker and her neighbours in South Kinmel Street fixed their sighting on the 22nd too.

[Sherlock Houses]

Uncanny

Weirdly enough the next Hanratty related article I read mentioned another Fellows. This time a R.C priest. I wonder what the odds are on that. I can't remember the last time I even came across that uncommon surname..................

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hanratty+offers+evidence+from+grave.-a072088337

[Graham]

Hi Nats,

1] The Home Office in its reply to what Mr and Mrs Hanratty hoped was new evidence stated that Mr Dutton's statement had been made available to the defence during the trial. Sherrard said he never saw it. So who's telling the truth here? My own interpretation of Michael Sherrard is that he assiduously followed up any evidence or lead that would help his client. I would have to say that what Mr Dutton had to say would have been interpreted by Sherrard as being pretty damn important. Others went direct to the defence with their evidence, so I wonder why Mr Dutton didn't? Or - just occurred to me - would the Home Office forward such a statement direct to a defendant's barrister, or to the defendant's solicitor, in this case Emmanuel Kleinmann? Anyone know?

2] Apologies to those who know and love Rhyl, but my parents wouldn't go there for holidays in the 50's and 60's as they thought it was 'rough'! Instead. we went to Cliftonville, near Margate, which in those days was considered 'respectable'. However, even then (around 1957) there was an unruly element in Cliftonville, and especially in Margate after closing time.
I never set foot in Rhyl until about 12 years ago - have to confess I found it a bit run down. I did the "A6 Tour" bit, though, after which I forgot where I'd parked....went again a few months afterwards.

Graham

[Graham]

With regard to the Free Library and Joan Blackstone and Reggie Fellows, I've got a vague memory that on the pre-crash forum someone did post that she knew who the killer really was. Anyone else recall this, or am I dreaming? I did a Forum search for 'Joan Blackstone', but nowt. The search goes back only to 2008, though.

Graham

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Nats,
2]
I never set foot in Rhyl until about 12 years ago - have to confess I found it a bit run down. I did the "A6 Tour" bit, though, after which I forgot where I'd parked....went again a few months afterwards.

Graham

Rhyl is very run down in parts Graham and you are quite right even by 1961 it had started on the downward spiral but pockets of Rhyl remained respectable and still are and some parts are very pretty as you head to the hills towards St Asaph.But in 1961 the High Street from the Post Office to the Railway Station had a reserved and prosperous row of shops-Barclays Bank,Florists,Chemists,Newsagents Milliners on the corner/ M&S/Butchers/WH Smiths/ Boots the Chemist/Opticians /Health Food shop etc [still has many of these shops but parts of the High Street have definitely gone down a bit -a pound shop has replaced M&S for example ].Norma

[NickB]

The 'free library' also has this article about the Catholic priest, Canon Anthony Hulme, who was with Hanratty at his death. He is supposed to have said Hanratty had confessed the crime to him and later told the Hanratty family that he had not confessed to make them feel better.

[Graham]

The American murderess Barbara Graham consistently denied that she had taken part in the murder of an old lady whom she and her criminal associates had robbed. But as she was being led to the San Quentin gas-chamber she whispered into the ear of the Episcopalian minister who was with her that she was indeed guilty. Not being a Catholic, the minister had no qualms in making public what she had said to him.

Graham

[Natalie Severn]

This is just uninformed gossip about priests.If they did say such a thing they were very wrong to do so.It shouldn't need saying.

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Nats,

1] Or - just occurred to me - would the Home Office forward such a statement direct to a defendant's barrister, or to the defendant's solicitor, in this case Emmanuel Kleinmann? Anyone know?

Graham

How could Mr Dutton from Kinmel Bay be expected to make his statement direct to London or Bedford where the trial was in 1961? Going to the police is the correct way now and was the correct way then Graham.