"Let Him Have it, Chris"

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Craig was too young to hang so Bentley, an illiterate, educationally subnormal epileptic, became an establishment scapegoat.

To this day, it is unclear if he meant it literally, as in "surrender the gun" (as argued by his defense) or figuratively, as in "shoot him" (as argued by the prosecution). Though Bentley had never been accused of attacking any of the police officers, who were shot at by Craig, for him to be convicted of murder as an accessory in a joint enterprise it was necessary for the prosecution to prove that he knew that Craig had a deadly weapon when they began the break-in. Although only Craig had fired the shot, both were sentenced by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard, to be hanged.We can never know whether, properly directed, they would have reached the same decision was or decided that Bentley was not guilty. However, the Home Secretary (who has the power to commute the death sentence) ultimately declines to intervene. During the war, the family’s home was bombed three times – one of these raids brought the house crumbling down around Bentley, allegedly causing him another serious head wound. In any case, one of the other policemen on the roof testified that he had not heard Bentley say the fateful words either. The infamous crime – which inspired the 1991 crime drama Let Him Have It , starring Christopher Eccleston as Bentley – took place in Croydon, London.

The Court of Appeal was satisfied that under the circumstances, there would be different testimony given from the different viewpoints and Bentley was not set up by the police. But when will we learn that they are no substitute for letting the cold light of day illuminate the truth - wherever it takes us? He comes across as an extremely smug and arrogant man who regards some judges as incompetent bullies. Did Christopher Craig shoot and kill Constable Miles, or was it a dreadful accident by someone else on the roof, an accident that needed covering up? calibre rounds in his revolver; Yallop asserted it would have been impossible for him to use a bullet of .A deputation of MPs had earlier gone to see the home secretary with a petition, said to have been signed by about 200 members. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. If only prosecutors and jurors had paid more attention to evidence of Bentley’s disability, which was gathered in Bristol, he might still be alive today. His main argument is that comics and cinema had little effect on the behaviour of Craig and Bentley.