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

[Natalie Severn]

But why would France deliberately arrange to stitch up his friend in this way for a crime he did not do?

To France desperate for money having lost his job, the chance to make a few hundred quid by getting a 'shooter' from the Rehearsal Club where he still played cards and knew everybody was an offer from Ewer he couldn't refuse.He had no intention of using it to harm physically ---that was not what he was asked to do.He may simply have been asked if he knew anyone willing to give Gregston a bit of stick ---make him see sense over leaving his wife and children.The idea of having a gun may have come from France because he had such easy access to them at the Rehearsal club and choosing a gun, a lethal weapon , created a pretty powerful threat inside a morris minor .But ---and there was a big but...suppose either Valerie or even Gregsten went back and rang the police once the gunman had left them and described the man ? Best therefore to wear a mask and pretend to be somebody else to deflect attention.What better than pretending to be a petty gangster? or a jail bird on the run? Don't forget either that France had probably had five weeks of getting his ears battered with Hanratty's tales of daring do in and out of the prison so he had all the fresh stories and street slang at his fingertips.He had also been in the nick himself and had been mixing on the edge of the underworld from when he was 18.
So I believe the idea of using Hanratty as a foil just struck them as apt---imitate Jim-say that's your name and you were mistreated as a kid[which Hanratty was not of course ---and they'll never find out who he was and anyway Hanratty can prove he was in Liverpool if the police try to investigate.
The crucial thing to recognise is that the plan was never to cause physical harm to Gregsten or Valerie. The terrible scene when half Gregsten's head was blown off by accident in the Morris Minor was just that -an accident and never meant to happen.
What to do now then? There was little choice -keep on deflecting guilt away from the Frances' and continue to use Hanratty as a patsy because in 1961 even being party to being in possession of a gun was a very serious criminal offence if you did not have a licence.
I don't for one moment believe France killed himself because he had brought Hanratty into their home.France rubbed shoulders with some of the most vicious gangsters in London on the tables he oversaw in Soho.France was mortified to have sent his friend to the gallows when he knew very well he was completely innocent.France went to see Ewer to apologise for the atrocious mess they made out of a job they did for him. France committed suicide the day after Hanratty lost his appeal and he knew he was going to hang .

[NickB]

Although he couldn't use Hanratty for this job he could get the family member to imitate him in the car

I can see how France could turn against Hanratty if he believed he was a murderer and was subsequently ashamed of having brought him into the family house.

But why would France deliberately arrange to stitch up his friend in this way for a crime he did not do?

[Natalie Severn]

Post script:re my previous post above , number 573 on August 31st Valerie was transported to another hospital after a visit by Acott .It was during this upheaval that the new description was issued on August 31st not after a visit by Janet Gregsten which was a week later.

[Natalie Severn]

Well this is very strange. Why did Ewer want to arrange the murder of Gregsten if he had no designs on Janet Gregsten until after the murder? The plot thickens.

I think the only reason the family got involved initially was to help Janet cope financially when she was facing the departure of her husband to a flat in Maidenhead on the 27th August.We know Gregsten was heavily in debt so Janet would undoubtedly have shared her fears about coping financially when he left her with her husband off to live on his own with the rent / mortgage of the new flat to pay for.

My view is that the scheme was William Ewer's and Ewer's alone as that of a concerned ,chivalrous gentleman looking after the interests of his dear sister in law and his little nephews so she was not made completely insolvent by Michael Gregsten's abandonment. Ewer knew Janet was deeply fond of her husband and he probably thought 'We really have to teach this scoundrel a lesson.Bring him to his senses and get him back where he should be in the family home.'
So how to go about it?
William Ewer probably had France down as a local wide boy-popping into his Umbrella/antiques shop with bits of silver that he might be 'interested in'---napkin rings /silver candle holders type of thing.Perhaps France might know someone who would put the frighteners on Gregsten- get him parted from his lover etc.Ewer may not have been considering any other type of feelings for Janet Gregsten at that stage.He just wanted to see she was going to be alright.
France then saw an opportunity to make desperately needed money but he couldn't turn to Hanratty because he couldn't trust him enough to be sure the job would get done.Nor did he want to share the much needed money with him.What is more they could still face prosecution if it went wrong and ended up with a visit from the police for possessing a gun and threatening behaviour if Valerie say went and reported the incident..So France turned to close family. Although he couldn't use Hanratty for this job he could get the family member to imitate him in the car ---very important so that when Gregsten and Valerie finally got back home-if either reported any of this to the police they would not be looking for France or his brother or brother in law whatever but for a man who said he was 'on the run' had 'done the lot' [went by the name of Jim etc----and btw do we really know what the man actually said to the lovers when Acott insisted on keeping that side of it in the dark in case the jurors full of rectitude, saw Valerie the only decent police witness witness as a strumpet ? Acott would not have allowed such divulgence .
But lets get it straight -nobody need ever have intended to do any physical harm to Valerie or Gregsten -the whole thing had simply backfired when Gregsten turned round too quickly in the car and the gun was fired out of fear.a dead man in front of him with his head half blown away and extreme PANIC and post battle type behaviour took over!!!writ large ---all running round like headless chickens to cover their tracks after the outrage of the accidental murder of Gregsten followed by Valerie's vile rape and crazed shooting .What on earth to do? Janet knew nothing of any of this---suddenly she was being encouraged to visit Valerie in hospital and tell Valerie about them thinking they know who the murderer was and NO he did not have deep set dark staring eyes he had light blue staring eyes . Meanwhile having mplicated Hanratty by placing the gun and ammunition wrapped in one of his dirty hankies under the back seat of the 36 bus that passes France's house they get Janet to visit the hospital where Valerie lay recovering and suggest they knew who did it and the man had big blue eyes not deep set brown ones---and hey presto on August 31st the description of the gunman changed from brown eyes to blue etc etc etc Meanwhile Ewer is following around Hanratty in Swiss Cottages, Petticoat Lane , at the airport bus stop for Hanratty's trip to Ireland ......like a fly round flypaper

[Spitfire]

Ewer and Janet Gregsten did not immediately set up house together-Janet and her boys went to live with Ewer and his wife[Janet's half sister] first and it was only after one sudden burst of unbridled passion that they realised they were destined to having an affair.This fits too.I believe William Ewer and his wife were very fond of and extremely concerned about Janet and looking out for her as close relatives would up to that point when William Ewer and Janet became lovers months later.They did not want to see their sister/in law left trying to support her two young children while Gregsten took off to his new flat in Maidenhead on 27th August 1961.

Well this is very strange. Why did Ewer want to arrange the murder of Gregsten if he had no designs on Janet Gregsten until after the murder? The plot thickens.

[NickB]

They were asked about a friend of Jimmy's called "Dixie" who they thought was one of Hanratty's girl friends.[further evidence they had seen "Dixie' France the previous day .

Taken at face value, it is evidence of the lack of police knowledge of Dixie’s connection to Hanratty in September.

The 5-Oct-61 phone call came out of the blue and France alone talked to Hanratty. It was the 6-Oct-61 phone call when France, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law kept Hanratty on the phone for over 45 minutes at the request of the police.

The postcard to France would not have contained the word ‘Hanratty’ and therefore I don’t understood why anyone thinks it tipped off the police to the Ryan/Hanratty connection. If France had wanted to tell the police that Ryan was Hanratty he could have done that at any time. The postcard to him is of no use to the police in making the connection.

[Natalie Severn]

Ewer must also have planted the spent cartridge cases in the Vienna but taking care not to plant .32 ammunition used by Alphon but the more common .38 to match the gun planted on the 36A bus.

Ewer did not do any of this.Ewer took a back seat and kept his hands perfectly clean as a proper back room boy should [although he seems to have been following Hanratty about at the time all over the place-eg to Petticoat Lane when Hanratty bought a new blue suit etc .He apparently let France organise the stuff you mention whose wife Charlotte had done Hanratty's washing in preparation of his visit to Liverpool which she gave him on 21st August. Ewer simply said he saw Hanratty at his local coffee shop in Finchley Road Swiss Cottage, on September 1st ,6 days after the murder , and rang Highgate Police because of the new description police had issued the day before on August 31st changing the colour and size of the suspects eyes from deep set dark brown eyes to enormous light blue eyes which stood out on his head looking like a carbunkle [Ewer's statement published in the Sunday Times of 16th May 1971].
The Flower shop assistant Dorothy Morrell gave police the details of who William Ewer had seen in her shop that afternoon [1st Sept 1961 ]and showed the police the name[Hanratty]of H's mother - her address and also the name Ryan that Hanratty had given her.
Ewer and Janet Gregsten did not immediately set up house together-Janet and her boys went to live with Ewer and his wife[Janet's half sister] first and it was only after one sudden burst of unbridled passion that they realised they were destined to having an affair.This fits too.I believe William Ewer and his wife were very fond of and extremely concerned about Janet and looking out for her as close relatives would up to that point when William Ewer and Janet became lovers months later.They did not want to see their sister/in law left trying to support her two young children while Gregsten took off to his new flat in Maidenhead on 27th August 1961.

[Natalie Severn]

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland.
If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

Paul Foot, whose research was scrupulous,writes : on Thursday evening October 5th 1961 Hanratty rang France and said ,"Dixie Dixie I am wanted for the A6 murder-" France and his brother-in -law then kept Hanratty talking -while the police,who were in the house tried to trace the call."

Foot also states that by September 28th Acott was certain Hanratty was their man 'Hanratty ,according to the France postcard and the information from Mr Pratt. Hanratty was in Ireland ."
The date Acott was informed about the has been fixed by Paul Foot at 25th September and that it was Mrs Charlotte France who informed them-importantly at that time there had been no public mention of Ryan.Oxford testifying in court under oath stated "on September 24th we did not know who Ryan was -he was only a name .By 25th September we had identified the man Ryan as possibly being Hanratty.Also on 26th September Acott and Oxford visited Mr and Mrs Hanratty at their home.They were asked about a friend of Jimmy's called "Dixie" who they thought was one of Hanratty's girl friends.[further evidence they had seen "Dixie' France the previous day .

[Sherlock Houses]

But hold on a second, William Ewers call to the police predates all this doesn't it? , His fine sleuthing around Swiss Cottage, put J Ryan firmly in the frame. Did the police completely ignore him as a bit of a crackpot? Gregstens wifes brother in law?

You're quite correct Moste, a very important point. We also have the situation 4 or 5 days later [September 4th] of Hanratty allegedly phoning Charlotte from London airport remarking to her that he thought a man was watching him [see Woffinden book p. 131].

I can't escape this nagging feeling that Hanratty's movements between the moment he left the France's home on the Monday evening of August 21st and his 8.30/9.00am departure from the Vienna Hotel the following morning were being monitored by very interested third parties. It would begin to explain certain strange coincidences such as Alphon's phone call to and then appearance at the Vienna Hotel just a few short hours later.

[Spitfire]

So, Ewer having arranged the murder of Gregsten and the attempted murder of Miss Storie now finds to his horror that the latter has survived and has given an uncannily accurate description of Alphon, whom Ewer had arranged to be picked up on the A6 in or near Slough.

Ewer must act to direct attention away from Alphon, as investigation of Alphon by the police will in turn lead back to Ewer. He decides to pin the blame on J Ryan, aka James Hanratty, whom he sees leaving the dry cleaners.

Was Janet Gregsten involved in all this? Probably but then again possibly not, she is the person whom Ewer says spotted Ryan as the killer from his demeanour in the dry cleaners. But if Janet was so involved, one has to ask why did Ewer need to go to such lengths to possess her and why was it necessary to murder Michael Gregsten at such expense.

Ewer must also have planted the spent cartridge cases in the Vienna but taking care not to plant .32 ammunition used by Alphon but the more common .38 to match the gun planted on the 36A bus.

Talking of the bus, the plot to frame Hanratty must have had its inception prior to the planting of the gun on it. How did Ewer, who may or may not have planted the gun on the bus, know that the place under the rearmost seat of the upstairs deck was a favoured hiding place of Hanratty for his unwanted booty? As far as we know Charles France knew that that was a favoured Hanratty hiding place and also knew that Hanratty had stayed at the Vienna.

We must therefore assume that Charles France and William Ewer had concocted a plan with the ultimate aim to kill Michael Gregsten and to frame Hanratty for the crime.

[moste]

Actually in reality, the police would have followed up on Ewers story, whether it was as a result of Janet's 6th sense or not. The police would have wanted to know the real story behind Ewer following this supposed, complete stranger around the neighborhood making a nuisance of himself into the bargain. There's obviously important stuff involved here that we are not a party to.

[moste]

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland. However France must have reported it to the police because they put a tap on the France's phone and said that if there was another call from Hanratty they were to keep him talking so they could try and trace it.

I believe that the police made the Ryan connection through Hanratty’s parents. The police had visited them about his robberies in Northwood and asked to be contacted if they heard from him. I think they reported receiving the postcard from Ireland, in the same way that Hanratty senior took in the birthday card when he was on the run, and then when the police saw the letter from the Irish hire company on 26-Sep-61 the Vienna/Ryan/Hanratty link was sealed.

If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

But hold on a second, William Ewers call to the police predates all this doesn't it? , His fine sleuthing around Swiss Cottage, put J Ryan firmly in the frame. Did the police completely ignore him as a bit of a crackpot? Gregstens wifes brother in law?

[NickB]

When Hanratty rang France and told him he was wanted for murder, Acott was in France's flat

I don't think so because that was the day Acott and Oxford flew back from Ireland. However France must have reported it to the police because they put a tap on the France's phone and said that if there was another call from Hanratty they were to keep him talking so they could try and trace it.

I believe that the police made the Ryan connection through Hanratty’s parents. The police had visited them about his robberies in Northwood and asked to be contacted if they heard from him. I think they reported receiving the postcard from Ireland, in the same way that Hanratty senior took in the birthday card when he was on the run, and then when the police saw the letter from the Irish hire company on 26-Sep-61 the Vienna/Ryan/Hanratty link was sealed.

If the police had been tipped off by France as part of a frame-up they would not have gone off on a wild goose chase to Ireland, as France knew he was back in London.

[Spitfire]

So let's see what we've got.

Gregsten owes Ewer a large amount of money which the former has borrowed from the latter to buy/rent a property in Maidenhead. As part of the terms of the loan Gregsten has to pick up Alphon on the A4 in Slough, but Gregsten is unwilling to tell Valerie Storie about this arrangement. In fact it's not known why Gregsten should have to pick up Alphon on the A4. As Alphon was armed with a .32 revolver (not .38 Enfield found on the No.36A bus) he must have either intended to harm Gregsten and/or Storie or at least threaten them. As Ewer is the ultimate beneficiary of the murder of Gregsten in that he gets to start/continue a relationship with the widow of the victim, we must assume that Alphon was instructed to murder Gregsten.

So Ewer lends money to Gregsten on condition that he picks up a hitchhiker on the A4 at a predetermined place in or near Slough. Ewer tells Alphon to be that hitchhiker and to force Gregsten to drive up the A6 into darkest Bedfordshire and then to kill Gregsten and Storie. It's a bit vague as to whether Alphon was to do this on his own, or whether another assassin was to meet them at the Deadman's Hill layby. What is clear is that Alphon is to get £5,000 paid by Ewer for his troubles.

Ewer must have had more money than sense, as this escapade has cost him the loan to Gregsten for the Maidenhead gaff plus £5,000 to Alphon plus whatever was paid for the additional assassin who may or may not have showed up at the layby. All this expense for Ewer to get his hands on the wife who was separated and living apart from the murder victim. Did the middle classes living in the Home Counties in the early 1960s really behave like this?

[Natalie Severn]

Cobalt /Moste/Ed -just a couple of points; When Hanratty rang France and told him he was wanted for murder, Acott was in France's flat and so was France's brother in law-France was trying to get Hanratty to give himself up.
When Michael Hanratty went to the Rehearsal Club with his father looking for his brother when he knew Acott wanted to speak to him ,France was at the back by the stairs ,he went white and tried to run away but Michael managed to stop him and France spluttered out that it was all a big mistake -that Hanratty had nothing to do with 'this' thing. But both before and after this France seems to have fed information to Acott that he wanted to hear about 'Ryan' and back seats of buses /postcards from Ireland etc then he became a total nervous wreck.He collapsed several times in court,tried to jump through a window,then killed himself the day after he heard Hanratty had lost his appeal .
Also when Paul Foot was writing his book and went to interview Charlotte France she was sitting with her two brothers who made him feel extremely ill at ease ease.In fact he expresses a deep discomfort about the entire interview.Roger Matthews was also profoundly suspicious of the way J Ryan had been 'traced ' and says it and other matters 'smelt of an informant'. I think it very strange too that Hanratty ,after giving Charlotte France £15 for doing his washing [like £100 today] didn't go back to the France's that night by taxi and instead stayed in the Vienna Hotel when he knew it was too late to go to Liverpool.I mean the Vienna Hotel is a five or at most ten minute walk from the France's and he would only have had to ring them and explain he had missed the train.Its truly amazing how close all these places are together-France's flat is just up the road from William Ewer's Umbrella/antiques shop.The 36 bus stop is at the bottom of France's road; The Vienna Hotel is a couple of blocks away etc