Christopher Larman-

[RonIpstone]

On Sunday,18th February,1962,I saw photographs of James Hanratty,and I immediately remembered that I had seen him before and also the occasion where and when I had.
It was on the 22nd August 1961,at the junction of Kinmel Street,Rhyl and Bodford (Sic) Street,Rhyl, atabout 7.30 pm,that this man stopped me and asked me where he could obtain bedand breakfast.I took him by the arm,and turned him round and directed him to the Windsor Hotel,which we could see from where we were standing,telling him that a guest house right opposite to this hotel would be able to help.It was in fact the guest house owned and run by Mrs Jones of Kinmel Street Rhyl.
He left me and went off in the direction I had pointed.I particularly remember this man because of his hair which was most outstanding being bronze and dark in parts.He was a shade taller than me,about 5ft 7 ins,dressed in a dark suit,neat and tidy.He spoke with a London accent.

This is another example of a 'helpful' Rhyl witness whose statement is not corroborated by Hanratty's version of events. Jim did not say that he eventually found digs after having been given directions by a cabbie on a pub crawl. According to Jim, after some trouble and having made 5 or 6 inquiries, he came to a private house with a bed and breakfast sign. No mention is made of any assistance from any passer-by giving him directions.

Larman's timing is also wrong. The bus arrived at 8.19 pm and for Jim to have made 5 or 6 inquiries would have taken some time, yet Larman is saying that at about 7.30 pm (the same approximate time as that given by Mrs Walker), only a few yards from Rhyl bus depot, he is giving Hanratty directions to Ingledene.

If Larman had been called to give evidence, then he would have been cross examined on the pubs he had visited and the times he visited them, which would then have given us a better idea as to when he could have been at the junction of Bodfor St and Kinmel St, and whether this could have coincided with Hanratty's claimed itinerary.

Is it likely that Hanratty would ask a passer-by in the street as to where he could find accommodation? I do not think it is. The problem for the visitor to Rhyl on the evening of 22 August 1961 was not finding the location of guest houses which offered B&B but finding one which had 'vacancies'. This entailed knocking on guest house doors and making enquiries of the proprietors and could not be short circuited by asking strangers in the street. How or why should Mr Larman have been expected to know which guest houses had vacant accommodation?

So the defence discounted this evidence and having been bitten once with Mrs Jones's performance in the box, they were unlikely to go there again with Larman or the other oddballs who claimed to support Hanratty's case.

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Ron,
Before I reply to any specific point, I want to make a few things clear about Mr Larman.His statement was taken perfectly seriously by Staines police but neither Hanratty nor his defence,knew anything about him as far as can be ascertained .Christopher Larman"s statement was, as I understand,never discovered until 1968 and forms part of the undisclosed evidence that could have helped Hanratty.In his own words he was never contacted by any police officer,after submitting his statement .Now at this moment I am in Rhyl,having taken back the book by Paul Foot so I need to check out who it was who discovered Christopher Larman.I know for definite that the police officer he gave his statement to in Staines Police Station in 1962 took it seriously and passed it on because we have him confirming his meeting with Mr Larman in 1968 to Paul Foot , and this POlice Officer,then working as a Security Officer recalled its contents and his absolute certainty that he passed it on but never heard any more about it from anyone. Mr Larman simply said, when he gave his statement in February, after he saw Hanratty"s photo just after the trial ended , ie 6 months later, that it was about 7.30.Now when you think about it that was a full six months later so to be out by an hour or even two is very easy.

Larman's timing is also wrong. The bus arrived at 8.19 pm and for Jim to have made 5 or 6 inquiries would have taken some time, yet Larman is saying that at about 7.30 pm (the same approximate time as that given by Mrs Walker), only a few yards from Rhyl bus depot, he is giving Hanratty directions to Ingledene.

I have replied regarding the timing.Your assumption that a]it would take a lengthy period of time to knock on several doors and ask about accomodation is questionable.It could have taken him less than 15 minutes---how long does it take anyone to say-sorry no vacancies? b] we don"t know that he started looking that end of Kinmel Street.He could have turned right by the bridge ,not left ,as he came from the bus station and asked at other guest houses in the other end of Kinmel Street arriving at its junction with Bodford Street 15 minutes after arriving at the bus station.

s it likely that Hanratty would ask a passer-by in the street as to where he could find accommodation?

Why on earth not? Surely most of the population would ask local people if shops were closed and all the B& B"s had "No Vacancy " signs up.
BTW, Mr Larman did not usually go on pub crawls.I pointed out in my previous post that this was only because he wanted to treat his friends in Rhyl and had been to the post office to withdraw some of his savings to do so.Also ,he had been a building worker in Rhyl,after moving to Staines he took up as a Taxi driver before his move to Australia .
Best,
Norma

[RonIpstone]

.Christopher Larman"s statement was, as I understand,never discovered until 1968 and forms part of the undisclosed evidence that could have helped Hanratty[/U].

Hello Norma

Read the judgement of the Court of Appeal at paragraph 197 where it is made clear that by 21 February 1962 the Defence was in possession of its own statement from Mr Larman which broadly confirmed his earlier statement given to the Police on 16 February. The former statement (i.e. the one given to the Defence) was not used for the purposes of the first appeal and Mr Larman was not called to give evidence.

Ron

[NickB]

Where does it say Margaret Walker saw Hanratty before Christopher Larman saw him?

Nowhere, it was my reasoning. Walker says she directed the man to Mrs Vincent’s, whereas Larman says he directed the man to Ingledene. Therefore if both witnesses are correct and it is the same man and he ended up at Ingledene, then Walker must have preceded Larman.

Can you also point me to where it says Hanratty rejected their statements Nick? Do you mean to say he rejected all the statements because there were quite a few in total?

Sherrard's letter to the Sunday Times dated 30 September 1968. The statements concerned are those of Larman, Walker and Vincent.

[Natalie Severn]

You are quite right Ron and thanks for the Times link Nick.
So Mr Larman was known about by the defence !Interesting.
Perhaps Hanratty saw in advance Mr Swanwick cross questioning all three about time? Mr Larman ,Mrs Walker and Mrs Vincent saying they had seen him at about 7.30, when it must have been at least 8.30. It has to be remembered that everybody was talking here about an event that had happened 6 months before in late evening on August 22nd in Rhyl.It would still have been quite light in Rhyl at 8.30 but they would have been aware it was "getting dark" ,that time of day is called "entre chien et loup " in France-it being a most treacherous hour to determine what is visible and what is not [and possibly know what exact hour it is?]---hence dangerous particularly for drivers.Hanratty was on such shaky ground having just changed part of his alibi that he was probably over bothered about people coming in the witness box and being interrogated about a time that he had earlier tied to when the coach had left LIverpool---when in fact it left at 6.00 pm.Not everybody has a good idea of the time during the day or night let alone as day is changing into night!
Cheers,
Norma

[NickB]

Hanratty's evidence was "that he found it very hard to find accommodation, that he had travelled in and out through other streets and it was dark at the time when he came upon a small private house with the ‘Bed and Breakfast’ sign."

Larman's evidence was that he directed a man the short distance to Ingledene when "the sun was shining”.

[Natalie Severn]

Hanratty's evidence was "that he found it very hard to find accommodation, that he had travelled in and out through other streets and it was dark at the time when he came upon a small private house with the ‘Bed and Breakfast’ sign."

Larman's evidence was that he directed a man the short distance to Ingledene when "the sun was shining”.

Ron,

What Mr Larman recalled was that he pointed out Ingledene to a young man asking about where he could get accomodation -a man who resembled Hanratty.He doesn"t claim that he saw Hanratty arriving on Mrs Jones"s door step,just that he had pointed Ingledene out to him.
Now if Hanratty took the only coach to Rhyl in the evening he would have arrived at Rhyl Bus station at 8.15 and sunset was 8.25 so it was fully light when he arrived just about a 2 minute walk from the junction of Bodfor Street and Kinmel Street.Therefore unless he walked up and down the streets of Rhyl immediately before meeting Mr Larman ,he could still have met Mr Larman during the course of his initial inquiries close to the bus station as the sun was setting.We dont know whether or not he immediately followed Mr Larman"s directions---but it would appear he did not on seeing that all the B&B"s in Mrs Jones road, hers included, had No Vacancy signs in all their windows---as did Mrs Davies"s house too which was immediately next door to Ingledene.
What Mrs Davies says is that Margaret Walker from South Kinmel Street dropped in to see her during the time Hanratty was looking round and knocking on doors.Mrs Walker"s street was parallel to Kinmel Street -it has a communal entry at the back meaning those who lived there on friendly enough terms could just drop into each others houses via their back doors as Mrs Walker appears to have done since Mrs Davies said she was visited by Mrs Walker as she was sitting in her house [next door to Mrs Jones] who told her a man had been looking for digs and she had had to turn him away.Mrs Davies"s daughter in law also arrived [through the back door] and told them that a young man had called on them wanting to know where he could get digs and she had told him to try further down the road.
So to me it looks like Hanratty wandered around for longer than this first lot of enquiries [happening between 8.20 and 9.15 or so ] until it would have started to be dark in the streets.At this point he must have come back on himself---easy enough to do due to the odd layout of small streets fanning out on all sides of Kinmel street.

[jimornot?]

Thanks for that link Nick.Its the best newspaper account I have read so far!

hi Nick

I agree, just caught up on this - an excellent article and one that should be
wider known on the main thread methinks

ATB

Viv