Derek Bentley & the Death Penalty: Case Study (Edexcel GCSE History)

Derek Bentley and the Death Penalty: Case Study – Timeline

Derek Bentley and the Death Penalty: Case Study – Summary

Derek Bentley was a young man with severe learning difficulties. At 19, he had the mental age of a ten-year-old child.

Bentley was easily influenced by others. In 1952, he and his friend, Chris Craig, were caught on a rooftop burgling a warehouse. A series of incidents on the rooftop led to Craig fatally shooting a policeman.

Bentley’s mental state made his trial, sentencing and execution highly controversial. Authorities ignored multiple requests for mercy on Bentley. His case helped contribute to the eventual abolition of the death penalty.

The Events of Derek Bentley’s Execution, 1952

Trial and Punishment of Derek Bentley

• Though Bentley did not fire the fatal shot, both Bentley and Craig were put on trial for murder under joint enterprise

• Given Bentley’s severe learning difficulties, many felt that he should not give evidence

• Much of the trial centred around the ambiguity of Bentley saying “Let him have it”

  • Bentley and Craig both denied that Bentley said this

  • Bentley’s lawyer argued that, even if Bentley had said this, he could have been encouraging Craig to hand over his gun, not encouraging him to shoot

• The judge turned down appeals for mercy from both the jury and Bentley’s lawyer

• Both Bentley and Craig were found guilty of murder

• The table below outlines what happened to Craig and Bentley after their convictions

Table of the consequences of Craig and Bentley’s convictions

Significance of the Derek Bentley Case

Initial reactions

• Bentley’s death sentence led to an outcry from

  • Politicians

    • Around 200 MPs signed a memorandum asking Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fyfe to cancel the execution

    • This was refused

  • Ordinary people

    • A gathering of 5000 protesters chanted ‘murder’ outside Wandsworth Prison on the day of Bentley’s execution

    • Some ripped down the death notices on the prison gates and clashed with the police

    • Two were arrested for property damage

The abolition of the death penalty

• The reaction to Bentley’s case contributed to arguments against the death penalty

• Many argued that like the case of Timothy Evans, Bentley’s case was a miscarriage of justice

• Three years after Bentley’s execution, the use of the death penalty was further criticised in the case of Ruth Ellis 

  • Ellis shot and killed David Blakely, with whom she had been in an abusive relationship

  • She had been severely beaten and suffered a miscarriage

  • Despite her technical guilt, the public deeply sympathised with Ellis, and many objected to her execution

• Alongside other factors, these high-profile cases meant that the death penalty was eventually abolished