This documentary about the A6 Murder and the man who committed it is a superior offering, primarily because of the new material it brings to the table. In August 1961, James Hanratty committed one of the most sensational crimes of the decade. After kidnapping a man and woman at gunpoint he shot dead the former, raped his companion, robbed her of a small amount of money, then emptied his gun into her and left her for dead. Miraculously she survived, although she has spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
Due to a combination of lucky breaks, crack policing and assistance from the public - including in Ireland - Hanratty was brought to book, sentenced to death, and hanged. Nevertheless, the case generated a great deal of controversy, primarily because of matters not discussed here, in particular the mischief-making of failed lawyer Jean Justice and the proselytising of his fellow traveller, champagne socialist Paul Foot. They like most of the major players in this saga are now long dead, including Michael Sherrard who defended Hanratty and believed implacably in his client's innocence until the posthumous second appeal which closed the case once and for all.
Valerie Storie is still alive but did not appear in this programme, however, presenter Fred Dinenage does talk to Hanratty's misguided brother, and to John Kerr, a student at the time of the murder, and without whom Storie would probably have died and this case perhaps have gone unsolved.
He also talks to author John Eddleston, who has written a dedicated biography of Hanratty, and for his contribution alone this documentary is worth watching.
Due to a combination of lucky breaks, crack policing and assistance from the public - including in Ireland - Hanratty was brought to book, sentenced to death, and hanged. Nevertheless, the case generated a great deal of controversy, primarily because of matters not discussed here, in particular the mischief-making of failed lawyer Jean Justice and the proselytising of his fellow traveller, champagne socialist Paul Foot. They like most of the major players in this saga are now long dead, including Michael Sherrard who defended Hanratty and believed implacably in his client's innocence until the posthumous second appeal which closed the case once and for all.
Valerie Storie is still alive but did not appear in this programme, however, presenter Fred Dinenage does talk to Hanratty's misguided brother, and to John Kerr, a student at the time of the murder, and without whom Storie would probably have died and this case perhaps have gone unsolved.
He also talks to author John Eddleston, who has written a dedicated biography of Hanratty, and for his contribution alone this documentary is worth watching.
