The poor lad never stood a chance, just a catalogue of disasters all his life.

Beyond shocking what this poor fella and his family went through. May they all rest in peace.

I read a book on this case years ago. Your coverage shows well how far British society has fallen since those days, when even a 9-year old acts in the public interest, and nowadays. THE one thing that hasn't changed is the ease with which the justice system gets warped by the corrupt.

Omg! This actually reduced me to tears! What that poor family went through and how brave Derek was knowing what fate waited for him. I feel ashamed at the British justice system for the way Derek was treated but hopefully things have changed and I hope no one ever has to go through this again. That's only the latter part of his life, that poor man/family had suffered right from the start. I hope they are all together now and can celebrate the pardon he so rightly should of had. Thanks for this Shar, I don't think I had ever heard about Dereks story to be honest, but certainly won't forget him.

I knew a policeman in the car with Bentley, listening to the radio of Craig being chased over the rooftops. Bentley was in custody and the policeman tried in vain to tell senior officers that Bentley was unable to say those words. He was told to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to progress his career. As a young copper, he did as he was told, which he regretted. He went on to be a well respected policeman in later life. He gave me his version of events personally.

Thanks to this shocking and sad video, I’ve learned another, truer version of events on that fateful evening many years ago. In it’s balanced and honest presentation, the facts of the case were told in such a gentle and respectful way so as to keep the viewer enthralled to the end. I feel I can write with utmost certainty that Derek and his family would be pleased with the rich content of this video. Definitely an outstanding example of how to make a video.

I came upon your channel quite by accident but I'm so glad I did. The story of Derek Bentley is one of the saddest I've heard, not only for the injustice for Derek but the torment and suffering of his family. Thank you for respectively telling these stories and actually showing us the human, vulnerable side of the people you highlight in your videos. 🙏

So sad. Thank you for telling this story. Poor young man. Hope his never forgotten

This gave me goosebumps! What a tragic story. The poor lad and his family 😞 RIP xxx

A wonderful presentation but so so sad.

Oh Shar, just watched this and it made me cry, I wasnt fully aware of the history of this poor man. Thankyou again for a very respectful tribute x

Such a lovely video, I had read about this many years ago, such a sad case and thankfully we don’t have the death sentence now. Really enjoy your videos, keep up your great work, Chris x

A victim of revenge not justice

Oh my goodness! Devastating. Thank you for keeping these kind of stories alive. God bless them all. And you as per did Derek proud.

Probably the worst case of a miscarriage of justice England has ever seen, what a tragic event, the people who made sure Derek was not reprieved I hope suffered some sort of karma for their actions later on in their lives, they as good as committed murder themselves.

I remember my mum telling me about the injustice Derek served, it upset her to talk about it. I feel so much sadness for Derek and his family. Thank you for sharing the full story. RIP Derek and Family.

A very well detailed exposure of so called British justice. R.I.P Derek.

Very sad indeed. Thank you for making this, and for drawing this tragedy to public attention again. RIP Derek.

This one has left me lost for words. What a sad story of a young lad who was disadvantaged in every possible way, especially during the war where there were things dropping from the sky onto everything they knew and held dear and destroying them. Nobody was safe in this world we can’t begin to imagine and kids had survival mechanisms built and crafted from losses upon losses. Destruction all around in our beautiful country with nothing in the way of stability. He was an easy target when the authorities wanted a scapegoat and I wager the judge who sentenced him to death hadn’t experienced any of the horrors of WW2 first hand. Thanks for the poignant and beautiful memory of this poor boy, so well put together. We lay the flowers together Xx

I knew the general story, but your other videos are so well researched I thought I'd give it a go..... You detailed the struggles that Derek faced in his early life which were largely unknown to me, I'd heard he had low IQ, but was unaware of the background, and your reading of his & his family's words just highlighted the basic goodness and honesty of the people, struggling through a hard life and then confronted with this travesty of justice was just heart wrenching, so much so that I ended up with "something in my eye".... Excellent telling of the story. Thank you.

A great video, full of information I never knew. Many thanks.

I remember this, as a young boy and my sister in law taking around the petition and getting it signed. So glad that he was exonerated. It was so flawed and a biased Judge. I would also like to think that the lies of the cops haunted them for the rest of their lives, but somehow I don't think so. Rip Derek ,your family were battlers, they stood by you until the end.

Hi, it's absolutely disgusting what happened, I just wonder how many good people lost there lives due to police telling lies, Rest in peace Derek 🙏, Thank you for telling us this story of British justice gone wrong.

Such a sad story. Thankyou for telling us about poor Derek. A very interesting story. I love your videos. Thankyou, Jennifer!😊

My mother always remembered the signing of the petition that Bentley should be reprieved. God grant repose of soul to the poor police officer, and Derek Bentley.

TRAGIC MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE!...

May I say your research into these cases is amazing. Not only do we experience interesting final resting places of very familiar people, we also have their biography. I am so pleased I have discovered you and binge watching! You certainly have a talent!

That is such a sad story ,thank you for posting Shar xx Dean

Thank you for this and all your other videos.. Sensitivitely handled,genuinely moving,tragic and sad tales of the celebrities that you feature ..the Kay Kendell one quite upset me ... Keep up the grand work of remembering these once famous faces x

So well presented love all you do

What a terrible story. I've heard of having the cards being stacked up against you 😞 Thank you for sharing 🙏🌹

Bentley's royal pardon was as to the sentence only, not the conviction. It does seem unjust that Bentley went to the gallows while Craig who actually shot PC Miles was not hanged because he was under 18. But that was the law then. Times change and the standard of criminal justice with them. However, it should be noted that in 1998 the Court of Appeal did not declare Bentley to have been innocent (under English law there is no such thing as a declaration of innocence), simply that his conviction for murder was unsafe and unsatisfactory due to a defective trial. The Court of Appeal is not concerned with guilt or innocence but whether the trial verdict was safe and satisfactory or not.

Sad sad story . For derek and his family and for PC miles and his. May they now have peace.

A very sad case. The British Justice system over the years have made so many mistakes. It was a shame Derek's Mother could not see Derek Pardoned while she was alive. It's cases like these that makes Hanging so wrong. Another great video.

Thank you so much for the video I remember going to see the film and the newspaper coverage and a TV program about his case Rip Derek ♥️ and his family ♥️

Rest in peace

I love your stuff. Really informative

Hi BB&B. Angus MacMillan here. Thank you for this excellent coverage of one of the most heinous crimes, committed by the British Judiciary. As a young Law student, I debated the VILE execution of Timothy John EVANS Timothy John Evans Born 20 November 1924 Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales Died 9 March 1950 (aged 25) HMP Pentonville, London, England. At this time; I was engaged in a debate on the pros and cons of the Death Penalty. My maternal Grandfather, a reader of Law assisted me to collate the facts as I was only four years old at the time of poor Timothy's demise. During my studies, I read the court transcripts of this case, for which the BRITISH JUSTICE SYSTEM would hang their collective heads in shame. It is interesting that a family member who had moved to England not long after Timothy's death had applied to rent a home at (Guess where) 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill. The relative informed our family that she had to decline the rental offer as there was a vile smell about the place. The home was owned by none other than John Christie, who was a former Special Constable. On 20 September 1947, Evans married Beryl Susanna Thorley, whom he had met in January 1947 on a blind date. The couple initially lived with Evans's family at St Mark's Road but after Beryl discovered she was pregnant in 1948 they moved into the top-floor flat at 10 Rillington Place in the Ladbroke Grove area of Notting Hill. Their neighbours in the ground-floor flat were the serial killer John Christie, then working as a post office clerk, and his wife, Ethel Christie. Timothy's and Beryl's daughter Geraldine was born on 10 October 1948. The case largely came down to Christie's word against Evans's and the course of the trial turned against Evans. The trial which was held before Mr Justice Lewis, lasted only three days and much key evidence was omitted, or never shown to the jury. Evans was found guilty - the jury taking just 40 minutes to come to its decision. After a failed appeal held before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard, Mr Justice Sellers and Mr Justice Humphreys on 20 February, Evans was hanged on 9 March 1950 by Albert Pierrepoint, assisted by Syd Dernley at Pentonville Prison.To cut a long story short; Timothy EVANS was assessed and found to have the IQ of a 5 year old yet; the justice Subsequent to the arrest and execution which should be more appropriately entitled THE MURDER of an Innocent man, Christie was found guilty of the murder of Mrs EVANS and her baby, his own wife Ethel and a number of others, who were buried on his property. Christie was subsequently hanged but it took over 20 years for the British Government to give poor Evans a Posthumous Pardon, and a fat lot of good that did him. I am appalled to learn of the case of Poor Derek BENTLEY. The MURDER of Derek BENTLEY in i strikingly identical circumstances to that of Evans is bizarre and criminal to say the least. Each of the Coppers who testified against Evans and BENTLEY deserve to be imprisoned for the rest of their rotten lives. The same goes for those bombastic, pompous judges who are DERELiCT in their duty. DAMN! I AM BLOODY ANGRY! In this respect our late Queen is also vicariously responsible as the Pound Stops with her. ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THE SOUL OF DEREK BENTLEY O LORD AND MAY THY PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM. MAY HE REST IN PEACE!

So Very Very sad, I was 8 yrs old when it came on the radio that William had been hanged, My Mam said to my Dad, Oh No, They have hanged an innocent boy ! I will Never forget it. R.I.P. to Derek and his Family who suffered So Much as a result of this Terrible act of Injustice. I Love the way you bring Such Beautiful yellow roses that signify Friendship. God Bless you, You are a Beautiful Lady .It is my Pleasure to subscribe to your Channel. Keep up the god work. You are doing a Wonderful job Much Love from Dublin XXXXX

Very sad 😢 I’m afraid it still gos on today.he was used as a scapegoat,the easiest and quickest way to obtain a quick result by picking on the weakest..shame on those officers 👮‍♂️

The judge and the Home Secretary and anyone else who pushed for his execution or didn’t intercede has had to face a greater judge who judges all of us.

Brilliantly done documentary

Very sad... Remember watching the movie when i was 12 and cryed my eyes out im now 43. Rip to the Bentley family. 😢😢😢😢

Just saw "Let him have it" here on KZfaq. He and his family are blessed that his Niece brought his name this honor.

Very sad story. Sad also that his parents and sister never saw him exonerated but glad his Niece continued and won the fight for justice. Unfortunately to this day there are still bad apples within the police force and you still hear about miscarriages of justice, obviously there’s no death penalty now but people have still lost their lives in prison because of it.

Typical that they waited until Iris had died before exonerating him. They never gave her that peace. All we need to know about our establishment.

Thank goodness we abandoned the barbaric practice of capital punishment years ago

An appalling miscarriage of justice. Used as a scapegoat to satisfy the legal system.

A disgusting miscarriage of justice.😢😢

A story of such terrible injustice. I've seen the film, but knowing his development problems, it looks like one of those trials made to pacify the public more than serve the wrongs. We can never really know, but the sadness lives on and no amount of pardon can ever really absolve him.

Very good job ! Well told Thanks ! Bob

This kind, loving and very respectful but deeply sad video had me in tears. Poor Derek was so cruelly treated by life, the description by one of his teachers who should have known better was horrific, his end was vile and carried out by a system that had no thought for humanity, how on earth could these narrow minded judges & politicians sleep at night??? Derek's parents and sister were hero's who fought every step of the way to save their son, even in the so called 'justice system' there can be injustice, so sad so sad.

Omg he was only 19 ,I remember watching his film ,I was so traumatized, thank you for sharing Derek story ,brilliant channel.,rest in peace Derek..

You obviously research your subjects and topics in depth which leads to excellent videos like this. Well done I love your channel, I just want more!!!!!! 😏😃 Thank you from Yogi.

Such a great story as always with This lady.. So sad to hear about the amazing actor Leslie Philips passing today. He was in over 200 films including so carry on films. Would be great if you did a biographical video of this Legend. 😎❤

The Law is an ass and this proves it and it was the same with evens of 10 Rillington place,it’s shocking what they and there families went through ,British justice is not only corrupt to the hilt but proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that that those involved in it don’t give a shit about us.my heart goes out to all who have suffered through injustice.

RIP 🙏 Derek Bentley 🙏 😢 💔

Rest in peace Derek🥀

Lovely video Shar. Look at all the brown grass! You could almost be mistaken for Melbourne 🤭

The guy just had the worst luck anyone could get, poor lad.R.I.P the government murdered you just to get there pound of flesh

Fab video again, than you so much ❤

What a beautiful example of a family sticking up for one of their own and not rolling over.👏👏 what an absolutely horrendous example of state murder from the police The Crown prosecution service the prison service and all of the homes secretaries involved. working people have allways gotten the shaft especially when they have no one to speak for them. as a society we would hope these dark days are behind us but it certainly doesn’t look that way. by the way Barbara excellent work.A well produced a documentary.👏👏👏

Such a sad story, poor guy.

This is just heartbreaking

Wow...what a story!! Shocking...well put across, kept me on the edge to the end...great remembrance 🙏

R.I.P. derek so sad listening to this story….thank you for the vlog

The Judge had no choice but to pass a death sentence. In a capital murder case at the time the Death Penalty was a mandatory sentence for over 18's, it was the only option for the Judge. He could only pass on a recommendation of mercy to the Home Secretary. Up to that point no death sentence had been carried out where the jury had recommended mercy. As the appeals exhausted Goddard himself even wrote a letter to the Home Secretary urging a reprieve. All prisoners convicted of capital murder who served prison sentences were reprieved by Home Secretaries, not sentenced to time by Judges. All were initially sentenced to death.

so sad - no words really :(

So sad, God bless them R.I.P.

This is so sad. 😢

My dad was one of the eye witnesses who weren't called to court. Derek Bentley was innocent.

Hi just watching your video I started watching your videos in December just gone.😊♥️

Sad video, what this family went through to get justice. My daughter is doing drama at school and one of the lessons is based on Derek Bentley, even though he has pasted but his names lives on.

Tears are streaming down my face following this

British Justice let down this person with learning difficulties. The whole judicial system at the day and the Police should be ashamed of themselves. Craig was 16 at the time and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. So they went for Bentley who was 18 years old and gave him the death penalty of Hanging. Shame on the legal system. So Tragic.

That was a terrible thing for that poor family. The judge and police who lied have consideration for true justice

Thank you.

Never should have hanged! Poor family 😢😢

It's all very well to say that people/society didn't know better at the time. Primarily, how children are affected by physical and mental trauma. That things have changed now and, jolly good - let us all move on. Yet, that leaves us confronting a glaring hole in humanity: Compassion does not change. The excuses made by older generations to explain away the cold, unfeeling, at times judgemental lack of compassion they experienced and then perpetuated, are sometimes nauseating. It can be seen that many of those who were still trying to publicly constrain others with Victorian values even as late as the 60's, were only compassionate and indeed empathic, when capital offences were committed by their own family members. Derek Bentley may well have been 90 this year. Iris, his sister, may not have died in 1998 if she hadn't spent 45 years of her life fighting the mighty British Establishment. Trauma upon trauma visited upon the Working Class. G-d Bless Derek & Iris. May their energies have reunited, finally. Thank You for your insightful, informative and intelligent videos.

There is something touching about Maria Dingwall carrying out her mother’s wish. Even after death love lives on 😢

I've always thought that if the words "Let him have it, Chris" had ever been said, that they were susceptible to two interpretations (at least). They could have meant, as the prosecution claimed, "Shoot him now, Chris," or they could have meant: "Give him the gun, Chris" ie give the gun to the police officer. In other words, what was Derek's barrister doing, if anything, in failing to explore this possibility, not forgetting the police, who may have invented these words and colluded in them as fact? There seems so much doubt in play that any conviction would have been unsafe.

Very tragic.🌹

Such a sad story. Derek Bently was clearly innocent of any murder. In 2005 I sold a car to someone whom I had never met or heard of. I was emigrating tyo New Zealand. I got the price that I was asking for. When the guy came to my house to have a look at the car, he said that he lived just up the road in the same cul-de-sac as me. I got the cash, completed the sale, and gave him a signed receipt. He signed it too but would not let me see him writing as he was embarrassed to be seen writing as he had ben illiterate in the past. Sale over, and me feeling richer, hands were shook. A couple of days later, another Neighbour asked me if I realized who I had sold my car to. I said no. Then he told me the whole story. I had sold my car to Christopher Craig. I was somewhat surprised. When Chris (as he liked to be known) came to pay up, we had quite an interesting conversation. He never once referred to Derek but. . did say in his youth that he was a nasty guy, and he never left the house without knuckle dusters, a knife, or a gun. It remains to say that I got his cash, and never spoke to him again. To save you from asking where I lived, it was in Bedfordshire..

This is the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history

Terribly tragic. A blatant miscarriage of justice which at least in part led to Britain's abolition of the death penalty in 1965.

😢 no words needed

Painfully sad.

Not only was Craig armed, so was Bentley - with a brass knuckleduster which by itself is a lethal weapon, but to which he had added a steel knife blade. He was not quite the innocent he has been painted in certain quarters. Nevertheless, I think Bentley should have been reprieved. The thing had a bad look about it, with Craig who killed PC Miles going to prison while Bentley, who had not fired the shot, was executed. But remember as well that this occurred in the aftermath of WWII which had given rise to an enormous increase in crime of every description. A policeman had been murdered and it seems the home secretary, Maxwell Fyfe, felt an example had to be made, hence his refusal of a reprieve. He was wrong, in my view.

Incredibly sad😢

I have watched the film loads of times and read books about Derek Bentley so so heartbreaking 💔 for his family who went through all that so tragic 😥 poor Derek the British justice system was disgusting and if you ask me still is to this day 😢 RIP Derek 🙏 🕊 And his mum dad and sister god bless them all 🙏🙏❤❤and thank you for this video ❤

I have always oppoed the death penalty and, if discussing the subject, I use Derek Bentley and Timothy Evans (who was hanged for one of the crimes of Christie). Both victims of British Justice. I oppose the idea of postumous pardons as a pardon in such cases. The verdict should be overturned and stricken from the record. A pardon is not an acknowledgement of innocence, but just a recogniton by the state that they got something wrong.

I always thought he said them words, but meaning that the gun be handed over. Learning new things. 😄

Thank you so much for covering this case and visiting his grave. In the end - the public KNOW that police are corrupt, that lies are told and that he did not get a fair trial. Being of low IQ should have stopped any suggestion of the death penalty. 'Let him have it" has two meanings. If his lawyer was adequate he could have gone for reasonable doubt!! When asked for the gun, Derek could have said " let him have it Chris" meaning give him the gun. I know that he did not say this, but for a jury, who believes he did, the lawyer could have turned the tide on that simple technicality !!! This case was flawed before it even began!!! Police officers were determined to get revenge for the officer that was shot and killed!!

and all this happened all because some coppers lied... and they waited until all the police involved were already in their graves before pardoning him!!!

What really gets me is the little bstrd who wouldn't leave poor Derick alone and got him into this mess only served 10 years and was let out to enjoy his life whilst poor Derrick hung for something he didn't do its absolutely disgusting and sickening

A very sad story of this poor lad Rest in peace Derek

Afternoon Shar, a sad,sad tale. If ever a soul's destiny was never to make old bones ,this was one😢 So much wrong with this case, and Derek never stood a chance.This was revenge not justice. May he be at rest.A beautiful cometary Shar,you gave every word such deapth. And not ashamed to tell you I cried 😢 ❤thank you Allan&Family

Things haven't changed.....cops are still protecting and serving themselves.

These injustice still goes on 2day see it every day .

May the family find some peace amen