Mail's feature of 1999 on Hanratty by Roger Matthews

[Natalie Severn]

When I was writing my book, 'the A6 Murder, Was Hanratty Innocent ? ', much of my research focused on Rhyl and the Rhyl alibi. I became very friendly with the owner of Helygain Press in Kinmel Street which until 18 months ago was situated just two doors away from Ingledene and is now still nearby but no longer in Kinmel Street itself. Linda and her son Guto Lloyd Davies lived next to Mrs Grace Jones ,the Ingledene Landlady from 1970 and Linda was a great friend of Mrs Jones.Both Linda and her son are of upright good character,their shop a popular printing press and graphic design centre and both themselves and their business spoken very highly of in Rhyl .Linda Lloyd Davies cannot speak highly enough of Grace Jones.She kept an 'impeccable' boarding house said Linda-Linda's own shop being almost the embodiment of Welsh tidy mindedness and cleanliness. Mrs Jones, Linda insisted ,was an exemplary neighbour , quiet, kindly and generous and a woman who enjoyed having a laugh at the local club.The idea that she would have 'made up' a story about Hanratty was just preposterous she said. Moreover, Linda knew her other neighbours who claimed to have seen Hanratty on the night of 22nd August in Rhyl. These too were perfectly respectable popular neighbours who also went to the local club and enjoyed a sing song. To cap it all ,Linda could not have spoken more highly of Trevor Dutton who was her customer for years -his sons too who have taken over his business , still make fairly regular visits to her shop to buy various printing materials .Emphatically she says it is 'unthinkable' that Trevor Davies would have made up such a story and gone to the police with it. Michael Sherrard QC was astonished when told about Mr Davies's statement to Abergele Police made on 9th February 1962 before the end of the trial. Dutton had gone to the police immediately after reading in the newspaper about Hanratty who according to a Liverpool billiard room manager had tried to sell him and his clientele a gold watch in the early evening of 22nd August near Liverpool Lime Street Station. Michael Sherrard QC , Hanratty's trial barrister ,has written that he knew nothing about Trevor Dutton's statement until he was made aware of it in 1967 -five years after Hanratty had been hanged!Trevor Dutton had never understood why he was never asked about the written statement he had made or why it had never been mentioned by anyone until Paul Foot put an ad in the local newspaper asking witnesses to come forward in 1967-and he went to tell him about his experience.

[NickB]

Here’s a question about Rhyl ...

Sherrard asked Hanratty why, when he knew the police wanted him for the murder, had he not returned to Rhyl to confirm his alibi. Hanratty said he did not do that because he would have been unable to find the boarding house.

But he described how on his second day in Rhyl he went to Dixie’s cafe (twice), a barber shop, amusement arcades, Woolworths etc. and then returned to the boarding house.

If he could find his way back to the boarding house then, why couldn’t he a few weeks later?

[Limehouse]

Hi Nick,

Well, I would not be able to for sure. I have worked on the same campus for over 20 years and I still lose my orientation on a regular basis.

In a strange place it would be very difficult for me. When we are on holiday, if I walk the same route a couple of times within a few days I can find my way but if we return to the same place at a later date I have to learn all the routes again.

Also, could you really knock on someone's door and say 'Hello, it's me again, I stayed at your guest house a few weeks ago and now I'm wanted for that terrible murder and rape that is all over the newspapers and TV.' I mean, what if knocked on the wrong door?

[Sherlock Houses]

It was John Kerr who described Hanratty as 'cocky'. Now, I am not trying to stereotype or be class specific or anything - but who can define what 'cocky' is? John Kerr was about to go up to Oxford University. He was from a completely different background to Hanratty. What might come across to Kerr as 'cocky' might just have been a normal and acceptable tone in Hanratty's world. Despite his criminality, he was known for his politeness, his good manners and his dignity when facing the death penalty.

This is a keenly observed point, Limehouse. I was thinking along similar lines myself. John Kerr, a witness for the prosecution, gave his testimony on January 24th 1962, a fortnight before Hanratty took the stand. If John Kerr was not in the public gallery on the two days that Hanratty gave evidence then he must have based his impression of Hanratty's 'cockiness' solely on his demeanour in the dock and not on how Hanratty handled himself in the witness-box. Other people who attended the whole trial thought Hanratty came across well.

Just after the trial finished, Mr James Hanratty sr, spoke with Daily Express reporter Ian Brodie. Mr Hanratty was very honest and forthright in what he had to say in that Express article which appeared in the February 19th edition......


"So they want to hang him. The verdict has left us numb with shock.
But I think the whole country must have been astonished that the jury was out for so long.
We, his parents, have believed him innocent from the start. We believed him when he told the jury he was nowhere near Deadman's Hill on that fearful night.
The wife and I can't accept that a lad so gentle to us could suddenly become a maniac.
We must not let him down now. He's said he will appeal and I will do everything to help him."

[Irish-born Mr Hanratty, aged 54, lives with his wife Mary, 44, and three other sons - Michael, 23, Peter, 16, and Richard, 15 - in a council house in Kingsbury, Middx.]

"As a child Jimmy was a mother's boy. If another kid clouted him in the street he would never hit back.
But since his teens, Jimmy has been two different people to us.
One was the home-loving son prepared to work hard.
The other Jimmy was the villain with no regard for another man's property, restless, always on the make.
He never let the two lives overlap. He never brought his shady friends or stolen goods home - or talked of it.
Jimmy cannot expect me to stand up and praise him for the crooked life he's led. Last summer he made a fool of me when I tried to give him one last chance."

[Mr Hanratty, for years a foreman dustman with Wembley Council, gave up his job and took a window-cleaning business for him and his son.]

"He threw away the chance. As far as I was concerned he was lost. I've never been on the wrong side of the law and it broke our hearts.
But we couldn't disown him when they charged him with murder. I knew he needed his own folk.
Jimmy's convictions have been well aired in court.
It was when he came out last March I played my last card to help him. After 26 years I left the council for window-cleaning. I reckoned Jimmy might settle down.
In July last year business was so good the wife and I took a holiday at Southsea.
We came home loaded with presents - but Jimmy was not there.
I found my ladders left by him in a front garden near the Edgware Road.
I had no more heart for window-cleaning. He had let me down again.
When I saw him next he was at Blackpool police station under arrest for the A6 murder. Detective Superintendent Bob Acott would not let me speak to him. Through an open doorway i shouted 'Thumbs up, Jimmy, we're with you all the way.' And we've been with him all the way since."


Mr Hanratty also added the following remarks....."I could never figure out why he became the black sheep because he was so good in so many ways. And it's not sympathy I'm seeking. I'm just numb with shock."

[Natalie Severn]

Yes Nick,that puzzled me too.However I was given some photocopied notes that had been taken down -rather hurriedly it looks ,by hand by Hanratty's solicitor Kleinman and dated 29th January 1962 ,taken on the evening of his 'changed alibi' which happened as you say during the trial in Bedford which was six months after .He gives a very clear description of the boarding house itself and where it is situated -and it is accompanied by a rough sketch which is slightly inaccurate but if read alongside his directions could be found quickly-which it was in fact. viz " House not far from the coach station [it is about two minutes from it]There was a picture house on the main road going towards a bridge [both bridge and picture house still there though cinema is now a bingo hall]"It was one of the turnings on the right going towards a concrete bridge [hump backed] with a rail." [the rail is also still there and if you are going towards the bridge the house is on the right.]
I think this shows he could have found the house quite easily[ though certainly not Terry Evans house since that is way over the other side of the bridge which crosses the railway.It is also on a circular road in the middle of a complex arrangement of houses on a council estate.
However that being said, I know Hanratty is also on record somewhere in the trial transcripts in response to such a question in court that because he was a wanted man with police chasing him wherever he went until he was captured in Blackpool , he had actually been too scared to go knocking on people's doors asking if they remembered seeing him on August 22nd in Rhyl.[I know that if anyone came knocking on my door asking if I remembered them from 6 weeks previously I would be a bit scared myself and wonder what was going on exactly and why they needed me to remember such an event-and if they answered it was because they were wanted for murder I would probably have called the police.

[Natalie Severn]

continued from previous page :
Other stuff stands out in these notes -eg his mention of his 'little leather case'.The notes are a bit jumbled at this point due it appears to the solicitor asking him what he was wearing and whether he was carrying anything.So-still on the evening of 29th January 1962 during his trial at Bedford. Hanratty has clearly been asked by Kleinman about what happened when he got to the boarding house :_
"Landlady'-[crossed out]
-"Left little leather case .Landlady about 50 -like my mother."


then Kleinman writes -'He was wearing the double breasted striped suit.'
then- Hanratty continues his description of his encounter with the land lady
[I] said, " Could I leave my case I will pick it up later?" ---,"I originally booked for one night and then booked for another".
[Then notes return to his description of the house.

Personally find the mention of the case important because witnesses from Rhyl who later came forward said he had not been carrying a case. These notes were taken down just minutes after he changed or altered his alibi in Bedford during his trial .

[NickB]

Natalie - Yes I have seen the notes and sketch you obtained. Excellent research!

I’m not sure the ‘knocking on doors’ explanation is adequate though because it appears that he roamed around several places in Rhyl confident that he could return directly to the boarding house without knocking on any doors.

When he was asked why he had not told Acott about Rhyl he said:
“With my knowledge of the police he would have said right away – ‘That is not true’. I thought to myself: ‘I would put up another little story’."

If Rhyl was true, I find his behaviour baffling.

[Natalie Severn]

I have had similar trouble Nick with other characters in this strange tale.Why for example did Nudds change his story? He claimed it was because he thought thats what the police wanted to hear.Why did Alphon change his story? Why didn't Terry Evans admit he in court that had given the impression to Hanratty that he could fence goods for him? Obviously Terry Evans didn't want to be going to jail by admitting he had anything to do with stolen goods in court-but he must have known that was coming. Nudds? I really don't know because there is worrying evidence that the Hotel Visitors Book had been tampered with and that and Oxford never [to anyone's knowledge ] returned it. But I think Hanratty, in the dreadful situation he found himself in, wasn't thinking straight---he also said he was convinced because he was innocent of the A6 crime---that it would never reach the conclusion it did.Sherrard says one of the most difficult things he had to deal with was trying to curb the confidence of the Hanratty family that Hanratty would be acquitted! But sure it is baffling behaviour.

[Natalie Severn]

apologies re post 76-sometimes the machine here has a mind of its own-I begin by typing a capital D and before I know it the computer has punched in Davies! Anyway I was all the time referring to Trevor Dutton-not Trevor Davies.

[Limehouse]

This is a keenly observed point, Limehouse. I was thinking along similar lines myself. John Kerr, a witness for the prosecution, gave his testimony on January 24th 1962, a fortnight before Hanratty took the stand. If John Kerr was not in the public gallery on the two days that Hanratty gave evidence then he must have based his impression of Hanratty's 'cockiness' solely on his demeanour in the dock and not on how Hanratty handled himself in the witness-box. Other people who attended the whole trial thought Hanratty came across well.

Just after the trial finished, Mr James Hanratty sr, spoke with Daily Express reporter Ian Brodie. Mr Hanratty was very honest and forthright in what he had to say in that Express article which appeared in the February 19th edition......


"So they want to hang him. The verdict has left us numb with shock.
But I think the whole country must have been astonished that the jury was out for so long.
We, his parents, have believed him innocent from the start. We believed him when he told the jury he was nowhere near Deadman's Hill on that fearful night.
The wife and I can't accept that a lad so gentle to us could suddenly become a maniac.
We must not let him down now. He's said he will appeal and I will do everything to help him."

[Irish-born Mr Hanratty, aged 54, lives with his wife Mary, 44, and three other sons - Michael, 23, Peter, 16, and Richard, 15 - in a council house in Kingsbury, Middx.]

"As a child Jimmy was a mother's boy. If another kid clouted him in the street he would never hit back.
But since his teens, Jimmy has been two different people to us.
One was the home-loving son prepared to work hard.
The other Jimmy was the villain with no regard for another man's property, restless, always on the make.
He never let the two lives overlap. He never brought his shady friends or stolen goods home - or talked of it.
Jimmy cannot expect me to stand up and praise him for the crooked life he's led. Last summer he made a fool of me when I tried to give him one last chance."

[Mr Hanratty, for years a foreman dustman with Wembley Council, gave up his job and took a window-cleaning business for him and his son.]

"He threw away the chance. As far as I was concerned he was lost. I've never been on the wrong side of the law and it broke our hearts.
But we couldn't disown him when they charged him with murder. I knew he needed his own folk.
Jimmy's convictions have been well aired in court.
It was when he came out last March I played my last card to help him. After 26 years I left the council for window-cleaning. I reckoned Jimmy might settle down.
In July last year business was so good the wife and I took a holiday at Southsea.
We came home loaded with presents - but Jimmy was not there.
I found my ladders left by him in a front garden near the Edgware Road.
I had no more heart for window-cleaning. He had let me down again.
When I saw him next he was at Blackpool police station under arrest for the A6 murder. Detective Superintendent Bob Acott would not let me speak to him. Through an open doorway i shouted 'Thumbs up, Jimmy, we're with you all the way.' And we've been with him all the way since."


Mr Hanratty also added the following remarks....."I could never figure out why he became the black sheep because he was so good in so many ways. And it's not sympathy I'm seeking. I'm just numb with shock."

Thank you for posting this Sherlock. It's a very moving piece and shows how this terrible crime caused ripples of heartache and tragedy that would be felt by all those involved for many years to come.

[Hatchett]

Hi Limehouse,

I was particarly interested by your post on the views of Mr. Mathews. But if there were three people involved, then you would think that there was a clear motive involved, Did he said what he thought the motive could be? And also why the abductor, killer, and rapist was in such a nervous and bickering state when he entered the car?

Best wishes.

[NickB]

Louise Anderson, giving evidence on Monday 29th January 1962, was asked if she had been approached in a hotel at lunchtime on Friday by a man. She said she had. She was then asked: “Was that the man sitting behind my learned friend?” and she replied “Yes”. The judge then stopped any further questioning about him.

Who was the mystery man? The answer may be in a paragraph in the 1971 Sunday Times article:

Another point in Mr Ewer’s statement was that he did not know Mrs Louise Anderson though he conceded she might have known him. Mrs Anderson told us last week that she did indeed know Mr Ewer before the murder and furthermore that Mr Ewer told her of the intuitive sighting when they met during the trial. She has a clear recollection of this.

So if it was William Ewer, I wonder what the line of questioning was going to be.

I notice that Ewer's libel proceedings against The Times will not be released by National Archives until 2040.

[Natalie Severn]

Thanks Nick….very important points .Return to them later.
Regarding Roger Matthews .He makes a very specific point in the Mail article about Charles France and the fact that the 36A bus passed his address-and comments ,"I couldn't interview him though." Matthews 'finds it strange' that a killer would dispose of a murder weapon in such a fashion…….when the Thames was available!So we are meant to read between the lines here I think……..

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
Surely that article referring To Hanratty's father, gives a insight into the mind of James..
'He never brought his shady friends, or stolen goods home with him, or talked of it''
In other words he would not intentionally bring shame upon his parents, in their presence.
Is that the real reason, apart from self preservation , that he maintained his innocence..to spare his families feelings, and that legacy he left his parents, with ''I am innocent ''.
Makes sense to me...very basic, and does not involve conspiracies , and false convictions, or a confused witness ...
Regards Richard.

[GUT]

G'day Limehouse

Thank you for posting this Sherlock. It's a very moving piece and shows how this terrible crime caused ripples of heartache and tragedy that would be felt by all those involved for many years to come.

Almost all crime causes ripples of heartache to those not only around the victim, but the perpetrator as well. Think of the innocent wife and children left with no income and sometimes shunned by those around as just one example.

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be lke to have a son executed.