Swift Justice

A London court has confirmed a judicial sentence, 40 years after the crime.

The London appeal Court has confirmed that James Hanratty, hanged for murder in 1962, was indeed guilty of the crime. The sentence was based upon DNA tests, proving James Hanratty’s guilt 40 years after the crime was committed.

Hanratty was sentenced to death for the murder by shooting of Michael Gregsten in Bedfordshire in 1961. Hanratty’s family has always maintained that he is innocent and that crucial evidence was ignored during the trial. They claim that the police officer handling the case, now deceased, overlooked important issues which could prove Hanratty’s innocence.

They plan to take the case to the House of Lords, the highest court of justice in England.

This case proves that the arm of the law is indeed long, in time if not in reach, but also that justice is always seen to be done, even if it takes two generations. It is to be hoped that the House of Lords conclude the case in the forthcoming decades.

John ASHTEAD PRAVDA.Ru LONDON UNITED KINGDOM