A6 Rebooted

[moste]

This piece of nonsense came from a highly-politicised stage play called 'Hanging Hanratty', which Natalie Severn saw, and reported the statement in the play that Janet Gregsten watched the abduction in the cornfield from the comfort of the lounge of The Old Station Inn. As I quickly advised, this is simply not possible, and was purely for the purpose of dramatics. I believe she accepted this. I rather miss her on these boards.....

Graham

Quite right Graham, and I rather miss her too..

[cobalt]

Alfie,

I think NickB’s account makes more sense than yours. I cannot imagine anyone turning up at a hotel in 1961 with a piece of paper claiming they had already paid at the Broadway House Hotel that was part of a franchise. They would have been laughed out of the foyer, if there was one. Alphon was no idiot. It makes no sense for the money to have taken at the first venue. Pay on arrival.

The Vienna Hotel register, overseen by Nudds, is utterly worthless. Other witnesses might be misguided or have seen things out of proportion, but Nudds was essentially a professional liar all his adult life. Only a madman, or an idiotic idealist, would ever attempt to make sense of Nudds’ hotel register.

Apart from Nudds, there is no evidence that Alphon stayed the night in the Vienna on the night of the crime. He could have been at the races.

[moste]

Quite right Graham, and I rather miss her too..

If I recall though ,she was rather stubborn at first since she placed much store by a friend convincing her that the corn field was in clear view from the Old Station Inn. I believe I assured her of the true topography of the area in the end. Regardless ,my main purpose for the vid which I caught in passing by pure fluke, was to give a feel for the atmosphere of the pub location. Pity the Talbot wasn’t a morris minor, that would have had us wondering eh?

[NickB]

Alfie - With regard to Alphon's entry in the Vienna's books, I think that first we need to know why the defence team suggest that the police tampered with the paperwork to frame Alphon. Do they have strong evidence that there was an alteration and, if so, what exactly was that alteration? For example, if they can show that the police added the reference to the deposit then there is no need to seek an alternative explanation.

[Sherlock Houses]

What absolute piffle is the recent claim about Alphon being brought into the case via mere coincidence. His very suspicious behaviour at the Alexandra Court Hotel in the immediate aftermath of the murder was the reason he caught the police's attention. Hotel, B&B and guesthouse owners were asked to be on the sharp look-out for any guests who may have been acting very strangely or not stirring from their room since the murder. Peter Alphon certainly came under this category. He had been disturbing guests with his noisy and agitated behaviour in his hotel room and arousing their curiosity and suspicion. In addition, unlike the other guests he wasn't coming down for any meals and whenever he ventured outside he headed mostly for the security of the cinema, the ideal, dimly lit place in which to lie low for hours, away from the danger of any prying eyes. A great hiding place away from the heat of the A6 murder investigation.

And that was just for starters.

[ansonman]

'She saw him at the cleaners' was a Ewer fantasy, as Foot acknowledged when he interviewed Janet and subsequently phoned Ewer - something he should have done before publishing his book. Ewer told the Sunday Times it was a farrago of nonsense, even though it is clear from the Sketch article that he was the source.

In his statements to the Sunday Times, Ewer claimed to have worked closely with the police. But the newspaper pointed out some demonstrable inaccuracies in his statements - so it is difficult to know which parts to believe. I expect the police would have interviewed him as part of their enquiries. They certainly interviewed him after he successfully sued the Sunday Times for libel; this interview is at the National Archives but not available to the public for several years.

The file on the libel proceedings was closed at the end of 1973 for 89 years and will not be opened until 2063. The Freedom of Information decision date was 2018.

[NickB]

The review in 2018 resulted in the number of years being extended for longer than it was previously. Someone suggested this was an automatic reaction to them ascertaining that people connected with the deceased were still alive. It might be worth re-applying to them now for its release. (Although those 'still alive' might not only refer to Valerie but also Mike's sons.)

[ansonman]

I have submitted a request for file release but am certain the result will be the same as the request made last year. 89 years seems a hell of a long to to me and anyone associated with the case will have been dead long before 2063. Ditto those interested in the case today. The file is in the metropolitan police registered files. What on earth are they hiding, one wonders?

[Alfie]

What absolute piffle is the recent claim about Alphon being brought into the case via mere coincidence. His very suspicious behaviour at the Alexandra Court Hotel in the immediate aftermath of the murder was the reason he caught the police's attention. Hotel, B&B and guesthouse owners were asked to be on the sharp look-out for any guests who may have been acting very strangely or not stirring from their room since the murder. Peter Alphon certainly came under this category. He had been disturbing guests with his noisy and agitated behaviour in his hotel room and arousing their curiosity and suspicion. In addition, unlike the other guests he wasn't coming down for any meals and whenever he ventured outside he headed mostly for the security of the cinema, the ideal, dimly lit place in which to lie low for hours, away from the danger of any prying eyes. A great hiding place away from the heat of the A6 murder investigation.

And that was just for starters.

Yes, Alphon was behaving very suspiciously when he bumped into old neighbour Paul Davey at Victoria Station on the day of the murder: "His manner appeared just the same as he was when I knew him before, quiet, timid and diffident. I said I was going to the pictures. He said, ‘I have got to meet my mother at 5.30 pm from work.’ The conversation was then about school friends and old times." Davey's description of how he was dressed could hardly be more incriminating as well: "... open-necked white shirt, no tie, blue blazer, double-breasted, grey flannel trousers, which needed a press. Black shoes, they looked as if they needed a clean."

I've always reckoned a busy station is the best place to avoid the heat of a murder investigation. Seems Alphon thought so too.

[NickB]

Worth mentioning here that if you subscribe to the Margaret Thompson version of when the car was parked in Avondale Cresent, she pinpoints it to between 5.30 and 5.45.

[cobalt]

Alphon is certainly an enigma but I have never entirely bought the ‘loner, drifter’ picture presented to us. The school friend described Alphon as ‘timid and diffident’ and I am sure he was able to come across this way. But the housewife he attacked might not agree with that description any more than the Hanratty family when he tried to offer ‘compensation.’ Alphon’s mea culpa performance in Paris was provocative showmanship and not the work of a shy man at all.

[moste]

I have submitted a request for file release but am certain the result will be the same as the request made last year. 89 years seems a hell of a long to to me and anyone associated with the case will have been dead long before 2063. Ditto those interested in the case today. The file is in the metropolitan police registered files. What on earth are they hiding, one wonders?

One can deduce from this ,that they are hiding the true reason/motive for Gregstens death. If Valerie had been dispatched in the exact same manner as her lover, then the obvious conclusion would be that what had taken place was an assassination ! To remove this idea, a botch job was done on the woman giving the impression of a lunatic going berserk. Again I believe this was a contract killing , and that’s why the files will not be released .

[cobalt]

It was more than a botched assassination, Moste. It was a highly delayed assassination of which there can have been few in history and none so far as I am aware since in the UK. Despite Matthews’ attempt to paint the 1960s as a time of peace and tranquillity in contrast to the present, the truth is there has never been a murder like the A6 Case since. The case is unique.

I do have a problem with your use of the word ‘assassination’ and ‘contract killing’ since that implies a swift execution. That was clearly not the case at Deadman’s Hill; not many assassins sexually assault the second victim before pulling the trigger. It is still hard to understand what exactly was going on. The prosecution case is not adequate. Nor, I regret to say, is the defence case either. We do not know enough.

[moste]

It was more than a botched assassination, Moste. It was a highly delayed assassination of which there can have been few in history and none so far as I am aware since in the UK. Despite Matthews’ attempt to paint the 1960s as a time of peace and tranquillity in contrast to the present, the truth is there has never been a murder like the A6 Case since. The case is unique.

I do have a problem with your use of the word ‘assassination’ and ‘contract killing’ since that implies a swift execution. That’s was clearly not the case at Deadman’s Hill; not many assassins sexually assault the second victim before pulling the trigger. It is still hard to understand what exactly was going on. The prosecution case is not adequate. Nor, I regret to say, is the defence case either. We do not know enough.

Hi Cobalt , would you care to take a stab at the reasoning then behind the 89 year lock up of files. I gave it my best shot, but maybe the answer lies elsewhere

[cobalt]

Where do we start Moste? The A6 Case case has a political element for sure, but probably more small p than big P if that makes sense.
I think the police were stumped and fixed on Hanratty as a fall back. They needed a suspect otherwise careers were at risk. Why they were stumped lies at the heart of the case but is rarely discussed. It was a motiveless crime: any robbery and sexual attack were secondary features so the false concept of the psychotic hitchhiker was required to make it appear valid. The A6 Case remains unique. If Hanratty did it then he was executed of course; but no one ever since has embarked on such a pointless attack? That takes some believing. Why, is the big question? Why was a psychopath hanging around a cornfield in Taplow on the off chance ? No satisfactory answer has appeared in the last half century.

I am not sure if the cartridge cases at the Vienna were meant to incriminate Alphon or Hanratty, but I suspect the latter. When Ewer guided the police towards Mr. Ryan at Swiss Cottage then that was probably intended to lead them to the Vienna where the cartridges had presumably already been placed.. In the event it took a week longer to bring that about. An interesting week and one that perhaps Matthews was able to trace by reading police statements.

Hanratty, I assume, was seen as collateral damage who it was assumed would be excluded from the enquiry once due diligence took place. When this did not take place France committed suicide and Alphon turned up at the Hanratty household to offer ‘compensation.’ They were all little Englanders to a fault, including Hanratty: they did not believe that UK justice could hang an innocent man. It could, and it had before. It did for Hanratty.

The appeals are a different country, rather like reading the reports of the Hillsborough enquiry. The crucial element is that the Establishment is never called to account. No policeman who ever offered false testimony has ever gone to prison. No policeman who shot a civilian has ever gone to prison. No forensic scientist who doctored evidence, or presented it in an unbalanced way to support the status quo has ever gone to prison. Prison is for the plebs. Execution is for the plebs. The police, and the forensic scientists, like the bankers, make honest mistakes. They can lie with impunity. The embargo on Ewer's dealings is an insurance policy regarding false testimony, so that the process can continue unabated.