Hanratty evidence hidden by police

THE POLICE suppressed evidence that could have saved James Hanratty, hanged 37 years ago for the A6 murder, his family said after the decision to refer the case to the Court of Appeal. Hanratty, 25, was executed in April 1962.

Campaigners said they were shocked by evidence uncovered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which, after a two-year inquiry, ruled the courts should reconsider the case. The family say witnesses and contradictions in key evidence were withheld at the time of the trial.

Hanratty was hanged for shooting Michael Gregsten, 36, a scientist. He was also accused of raping Gregsten's mistress, Valerie Storie, 22, who was shot and left for dead.

It was alleged that after surprising the lovers in a cornfield in Dorney Reach, Berkshire, Hanratty forced them to drive to Deadman's Hill on the A6 south of Bedford, where they were shot. Charges of rape and the attempted murder of Miss Storie, who was paralysed from the waist down, were held in reserve.

The conviction was based largely on Miss Storie's recollection of her attacker's voice. She saw him for a few seconds and only picked out Hanratty at a second identity parade. There was no scientific evidence. Hanratty said he was in Rhyl, Wales - a claim backed up by many witnesses after his execution.

Yesterday members of Hanratty's legal team and family said the prosecution failed to disclose contradictions in evidence by Miss Storie. Identity- parade procedures were also flawed. They also said witnesses reported seeing the car at the centre of the crime in the Derby area within hours of the attack.

This contradicts witnesses who claimed to have seen Hanratty driving it in Redbridge, east London, early in the morning. Police knew of discrepancies in the mileage on the car's odometer but failed to disclose them. The new evidence was found in statements kept in police archives.

The CCRC lists three reasons for the referral: non-disclosure of evidence; breach of rules at the identification parade and police misconduct.

Hanratty's brother Michael said: "On his last day in prison Jimmy said, `They framed me ... I don't why but I've been stitched up.' Everything that's come out in the commission report is what Jimmy said."

Geoffrey Bindman, acting for the Hanratty family, said the commission expressed serious concern about police conduct. There was also powerful evidence that vital evidence was suppressed.

A former criminal, Peter Alphon, has been accused of the murder. He has denied it, despite earlier reported confessions. He refused to comment yesterday.

In 1996 Michael Howard, then home secretary, received a report from a senior Metropolitan Police officer which concluded Hanratty was innocent. He passed the decision on to the CCRC when it was established in 1997.