Derek Bentley Case: Examining a Legal Miscarriage of Justice

This case study critically analyzes the miscarriage of justice in the Derek Bentley case, where a 19-year-old epileptic boy was hanged for the murder of a police officer despite potential doubts about his mens rea. The paper explores the interpretations of Derek's statement, "let him have it," and whether it indicated intent to kill or surrender. Counter-arguments, including the jury's recommendation for mercy and the possibility that the fatal shot was not from Chris Craig's gun, are presented. A comparison is drawn with the Mark Duggan case to highlight ongoing issues with justice. The analysis suggests systemic failures in the legal and governmental administration, leading to repeated miscarriages of justice.

Running head: MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
Miscarriage of Justice in the Case of Derek Bentley
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
The ones who are given the duty to deliver justice carried out a heinous act of
injustice in the case of Derek Bentley. In this case, Derek Bentley, 19 years old epileptic
boy, who was held to have murdered a police officer was ordered to be hanged, however
acquitted posthumous. The paper strives to point fingers on the severe miscarriage of
justice that took place at London in 1952 when the legal justice system failed a poor illiterate
boy who needed rehabilitation and not death for leading a better life. The study would try to
find out whether Derek had a Mens Rea that led him to Actus Reus or not. Counter
arguments on the judgment is critically presented in the study. Lastly, a brief similarity
would be drawn along with the Mark Duggan case, which is of similar nature.
Tuft and Nakken (2017) in their book laid down the entire fact of the case minutely. It
says that Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig, 19 and 16 years old boys who are inept
criminals, attempted a burglary in a factory, which was reported by a neighbour. When the
police officer asked them to surrender, Chris pulled out a gun and shot him. Derek had no
knowledge about the arm and instead when Chris pointed the gun at the police officer, he had
demanded, “let him have it”. Watson (2016) argued that this famous sentence has been
interpreted in several ways over the passage of time. Some opined that it meant Derek asked
Chris to “give” the police officer the ‘bullet’ that he deserve for restraining them. While, the
majority comprehended it as a surrender . Lord Goddard, the Judge for the case bailed upon
the former interpretation and ordered Derek to be hanged.
On analysing the case and its fact thoroughly, it can be deduced that Derek Bentley
had no such mens rea that could have driven him to kill the police officer. The only actus
reus that is prevalent in the matter would include the act of the boys to attempt to rob the
factory on the first place. In addition, it has been proved that Derek had no idea that Chris

2MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
was carrying a firearm along with him. Along with, it was evident that Derek was illiterate, a
little epileptic and retarded which makes it quite impossible for him to arrange for a gun and
take the decision of killing a police officer. Lea (2015) said that a strong and cruel mind is
imperative for such an act, which Derek did not have. Therefore, no mens rea or actus rea can
be found against Derek in this case which could suggest the presence of criminal liability for
him.
As argued by Yallop (2014), An unfortunate finding suggest that a psychiatrist
appointed by the court when the trail was going on had held that Derek was not suffering
from mental retardation or epilepsy when he “encouraged” Chris to shoot the police officer.
Lord Goddard banked upon this report and delivered his judgment of hanging Derek. While,
there were other psychiatrist and child behavioural psychologist who claimed that Derek
was “borderline retarded” and was a “coward” when it came to ‘fights’ in school. There was
no way he could have meant to kill a person and by the sentence “let him have it”, he meant
to give up and surrender the gun to the police officer. This incorrect interpretation drove him
to death penalty, which should have been reconsidered by the Judge (Cody 2014).
In R. v. Derek Bentley (Deceased) [1998] EWCA Crim 2516 Lord Goddard defied
the decision of the jury who although pronounced that Derek was guilty yet suggested
mercy for the retarded boy. In addition, it was found that Chris’s gun worked inaccurately
after a range of six feet which cancels the allegation of Chris shooting the police officer who
was standing way far off than six feet. It was suggested that there were possibility that the
office was actually killed by the bullet shot by one of the other office present. However, the
bullet that killed the office was never found and matched with the respective guns in
question.

3MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
The then Labour MP, Sydney Silverman, supporting the motion in favour of Derek,
tried to pacify the motion against Derek and rule out the death penalty for he had been
campaigning against capital punishment for a long time. However, Home Secretary, David
Maxwell Fyfe, refused it. He argued against the motion and held that the decision was
rightly taken by the court as the evidences does not support Derek. It was suggested that since
it was a police officer who was murdered, the case could not be dealt reluctantly and Fyfe
said that his “intervention” into the course of law to pardon the penalty would seem like a
political move. The argument of the jury, the psychologist and the Labour MP in favour of
Derek Bentley is supported to be true to the real facts of the case. This overall situation can
be considered as a barrier to the fair trial of the case (Savage, Grieve and Poyser 2007).
The death of Mark Duggan is another unfortunate incident that had occurred in
the recent past of 2011 where the police shot him on a ‘suspicion’ of a potential plan of
attack. In the case of He died from a gunshot wound that occurred from the police firing.
Before the incident, it was alleged to be possessing a handgun given to him by another
person. However, in the trial the court was not convinced that Duggan showed any sign of
attacking. Later on a posthumous appeal, it was held by the court that his death was a lawful
killing (Davies and Taylor 2018). Even after the incident of Derek Bentley, the police is still
giving effect to death sentences on the street, the courts are still not proving to be an
institution of justice by delivering what is right and the government is still denying to bring
out the truth behind these incidents. It is indeed a defeat of justice, which is promised to the
citizen (Gudjonsson 2002).
The above critical analysis of the Derek Bentley case along with a brief citation of the
Mark Duggan case shows that there are miscarriages of justice, time and again over the
history of time. An epileptic boy is ordered to be hanged by the court even when the jury

4MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
recommended mercy while, a man is shot on ‘suspicion’ are the examples of the handicapped
justice system, a conniving system of governance and a faulty administration of a country.
This gives a clear picture of the miscarriage of justice, time and again.
References:
Cody, C., 2014. Capital Punishment in Twentieth Century Britain: Audience, Justice,
Memory. British Journal of Community Justice, 12(3), pp.108-110.
Davies, C. and Taylor, D. (2018). Mark Duggan shooting: armed officers cleared of
wrongdoing. [online] the Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/25/armed-police-cleared-wrongdoing-fatal-
shooting-mark-duggan-tottenham [Accessed 22 Nov. 2018].
R. v. Derek Bentley (Deceased) [1998] EWCA Crim 2516
Gudjonsson, G.H., 2002. Unreliable confessions and miscarriages of justice in Britain.
International Journal of Police Science & Management, 4(4), pp.332-343.
Lea, J., 2015. Capital Punishment in Twentieth Century Britain: Audience, Justice, Memory.
By Lizzie Seal (Routledge, 2014, 187pp.£ 85.00).
Savage, S.P., Grieve, J. and Poyser, S., 2007. Putting wrongs to right: Campaigns against
miscarriages of justice. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 7(1), pp.83-105.

5MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IN THE CASE OF DEREK BENTLEY
Tuft, M. and Nakken, K.O., 2017. The hanging of Derek Bentley, a 19-year-old boy with
epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior, 76, pp.136-138.
Watson, G., 2016. Let him have it: The short, sad life of Derek Bentley. Bar News: The
Journal of the NSW Bar Association, (Summer 2016), p.40.
Yallop, D., 2014. To encourage the others. Hachette UK.