The Police Officers’ Declaration

“I do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady the Queen in the office

of........................, without favour or affection, malice or will will; and that I will, to the best of my power cause the peace to be kept and preserved, and prevent all offences against the persons and properties of Her Majesty’s subjects and that while I continue to hold the

said office I will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, discharge all the duties thereof

faithfully according to the law.”

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME

1. Mr Peters was dead. 2. The car in the garage had been stolen. 3. Someone had broken into the garage. 4. The robber got away through the park. 5. Mr Peters was asleep when he saw the robber. 6. The robber was trying to steal the car. 7. Mr Peters told the police what the attacker was wearing. 8. Mr Peters was mending his car when he was attacked. 9. The robber was wearing a red woollen pullover. 10. The robber cut his hand when he broke into the garage. 11. The robber could not get Mr Peters‛ car to start. 12. The robber dropped his gloves next to the bunch of keys. 13. Mr Peters was much stronger than the robber. 14. Mr Peters jumped on the robber before the robber opened

the garage. 15. The robber got into the garage but he could not get into the

car.

What to do. Look at the picture. What has happened? Choose your answers from these four: Definitely true (DT) Probably true (PT) Definitely false (DF) Probably false (PF) Write your answers like this: 1.DT

After visiting the scene of the crime, you return to Police Headquarters. You are now in charge of the investigation. The first thing you must do is write a report for Head of CID.

You have already studied the clues at the scene of the crime. What you must do now is write a short account telling what you think happened.

You already have a lot of clues about what the man (or woman) who killed Mr Peters was wearing. You know what he or she might have been doing by the garage door...and so on. Begin at the beginning - and write your account of what happened.

You've just finished your report and are sitting

down with a cup ot tea, when the phone rings. It's the Head of CID himself. Mean Magnus McMuscle has escaped from prison...and was seen this afternoon running through the park near where Mr Peters had lived...You run down to the file room and pull out his file.

The Scene of the Crime

Evenin‛ all

(Mastermind – detective of the first ?………..

The Report

IN ROUGH FIRST.

IN ROUGH FIRST.

Name: _____________________

Age: Address:

1)

Born in Longon in 1960 and attended local primary & secondary school in Harringey

Left school at 16 and did 2 years apprecticeship with a local builders. Was dismessed for theft

After 2 years. There followed a period of 4 yrars unemployment. Married in 1980

Has two children.

2)

1974 1 monthe in Borstal for joyriding

1978 Fined £1,000 for theft at work

1982 Fraud – 2 years in prison

Brief Life Story

CRIMINAL RECORD

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FRONT SIDE

i It must be written on an official Eye-Witness Report Form ii

iii

iv The report must be dated and signed by yourself and Mrs Digby.

CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIONS

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Eye-Witness Report

Mrs Florence Digby 7, Park Avenue, Newtown, NI4 3AL 5:30 a.m. Woken by noise… “like someone scraping metal” 5:31 a.m. Downstairs light goes on at No.5, Park Avenue 5:32 to 5:35 a.m. Hears Voice – “Hey! What are you doing?” Sees Mr P walk outside Dark outsideSound of scuttling / shouting Heavy noise “like a sandbag hitting the floor” Moment‛s Silence. Tearing noise and swearing Noise of running feet…

Eye-witness report Case: Murder of Mr Peters Eye-witness: Mrs Digby Address: _______________ ______________________ ______________________ Report_________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ Date___________________ Signed_________________

Tick tock Tick tock...

Use your notes to make up an official Eye‐Witness

Report

THE REPORT MUST BE WRITTEN AS IF MRS DIGBY WAS SPEAKING:

USE PROPER SENTENCES AND CORRECT PUNCTUATION (It may be needed in court...!!)

“I was woken at half past five this morning by a funny noise. It seemed to come from Mr Peter‛s garage. It sounded like…”

Still no time for your cup of tea...Mrs Florence Digby insists on seeing you - she says she SAW THE MURDER!

The sleepy town of Newtown is in grip of murder-mania. Citizens there are rushing in a bid to do their bit to track down the murderer in their midst...

IN ROUGH FIRST

At the police station, they are busy producing WANTED posters.

A WANTED!!! Name:_________ Crime:_____________

Description___________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ Last seen:____________________ ____________________________ ____________________________ Wearing: _____________________ ____________________________

HM GOV Health Warning_________

B

E D

FORENSIC SHEET _ This footprint_______

__________________ ____________________ ____________________

____________ These fingerprints

______________________ _ ________________

This blood________ ______________________ ______________________ _

In the lab, forensic scientists are

gathering details of evidence. Next to each exhibit they write down

where it might have come from.

C

DOCTOR’S REPORT Name:………………………… Brief Medical History………… ………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… Injuries………………………………… ………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… Probable Cause and Time of Death……………………………………… …………………………………………………

Meanwhile, at the hospital the doctor who examined the victim is giving his or her expert opinion on the case...

Consider the lilies of the field

and the vicar of St Mildred's is busy ... thinking up a sermon for the memorial service...(And you know, life's like that...)

D

While all this is going on, the lawyers Hue,

Grabbit and Runne are dusting down

Peter's will. WILL

I, Mr Peters, being of sound mind and body do leave my worldly goods to the following people. I leave my................... ………………………………to Mrs Florence Digby. I leave…………………… ……………………………………………… …………. Witness…….. Witness……..

about his person Five pounds fifty in change, exactly, A library card on its date of expiry

A postcard, stamped, Unwritten, but franked,

A pocket-size diary slashed with a pencil From March twenty-fourth to the first of April.

A brace of keys for a mortise lock, An analogue watch, self-winding, stopped.

A final demand In his own hand,

A rolled-up note of explanation Planted there like a spray carnation

But beheaded, in his fist. A shopping list.

A giveaway photograph stashed in his wallet, A keepsake banked in the heart of a locket.

No gold or silver, But crowning one finger

A ring of white unweathered skin. That was everything.

Simon Armitage

Craig and Bentley case Newspaper Asignment

1. Read through the prosecution‛s opening statement.

• What is the purpose of this piece of writing? • What is the intended audience? • Why does it not have to be chronological?

Preparing to write your newspaper coverage of the story

• Using the work you have done already, list all the reasons you can why a guilty verdict might be seen as unfair.

• Read through the comments from Derek Bentley‛s father. Add important ones to your list.

Your first task is to work out the order of events of that night. Construct a plan or flowchart to show this. It should only include facts, not opinions.

Your next task is to find as many examples of opinion in the text as you can. • What are opinions doing in this sort of writing? • Now state the opposite opinion to the examples you have found.

Your job is now to write a front page story on this case. This story must attempt to persuade thousands of readers that Derek Bentley should not be hanged for murder. Use the Newspaper guide sheet to structure your work.

CRAIG BENTLEY CASE Capital Punishment was abolished in 1957.

The Case for the Prosecution:

At 10.30 a.m. in December 1952, Lord Goddard took his place in the Judge‛s chair. Craig and Bentley both pleaded not guilty and after the jury was sworn in Christmas Humphreys, the prosecution counsel, rose to make the opening speech of the case for the prosecution:

“Before the police arrived, Craig and Bentley had climbed the gate to the premises and were already on the roof which stood twenty-two feet high. It was flat and had four roof lights, the head of a lift shaft and an emergency door opening on to it.

The police car was quickly on the spot. Out of it ran Police Constables 5 Fairfax, Harrison, and McDonald. They were soon over the gate and looking around for access to the roof.

There was a moon, but it was hidden behind cloud most of the time. The police, therefore, used flash-lamps. A beam of light far below warned Craig of what was happening. He is reported to have said, 10 “Coppers!” and led Bentley into hiding behind the life shaft.

Fairfax, leader of the police and the most agile physically, climbed up a drain-pipe and got on to the roof. He saw Craig and Bentley and walked towards them.

“I am a police officer,” he said. “Come out from behind the stack.” 15 Craig answered: “If you want us,… well come and get us!” “All right,” said Fairfax, leaping forward. He grabbed Bentley by the arm. With Bentley in custody he turned

and pursued Craig round the stack; but Bentley got away and shouted an 20 observation, heard by three separate officers in the darkness by three separate places, which may be, in your view the most important that Bentley made that night.

“Let him have it Chris”… The most immediate reply to that comment by Bentley was a loud 25

report, and Fairfax was hit on the shoulder with what turned out to be a bullet from the gun which Craig held. That observation was not only heard by Constable Fairfax grappling with two men in the dark on the

roof, but by another officer, McDonald who was at that moment climbing up the same drain-pipe, and by another officer who had arrived from an 30 entirely different direction, P.C.Harrison.

All three heard it, and all three heard the shot which followed immediately upon it. That statement was a deliberate incitement to Craig to murder Constable Fairfax. It was spoken to a man whom he, Bentley, clearly knew had a gun. That shot began a fight in the course of which 35 P.C. Miles was killed; that incitement covered the whole of the shooting thereafter; even thought at the time of the actual shot which killed P.C. Miles, Bentley was in custody and under arrest.

P.C. Fairfax was not seriously wounded. The bullet glanced across his shoulder and only cut the skin. 40

Then Craig fired again. P.C. Fairfax dragged Bentley and worked him round to the doorway, where both of them could get cover from the shooting which was still coming from the direction of the lift. Bentley said to Fairfax, “He‛ll shoot you.”

Nevertheless, they reached the staircase head in safety, and both 45 took cover behind it. So Fairfax has been alone upon the roof with two men, one of whom he now holds and the other is shooting at them; but just about that moment P.C. McDonald arrives up the drainpipe. Apparently he is a big and heavy man, and had difficulty in getting up the last few feet, and Fairfax went and helped him up. 50

Fairfax said to McDonald, “He got me in the shoulder.” Bentley, who you will remember, is under arrest with Fairfax at the time, said, “I told the silly…not to use it.” That means, you may think, that Bentley knew quite well that Craig had a gun, and that he knew that Craig at least meant to use it. But that statement, of course, is completely 55 contradicted by Bentley‛s earlier statement, heard by three police officers. “Let him have it, Chris.”

Fairfax, now with the reinforcement of McDonald, shouted to Craig, “Drop your gun.” Craig‛s reply was, “Come and get it.” and another shot was fired. It seems to have missed everything; but that shot was 60 probably at P.C. Harrison who had climbed from the ground up to the roof of No.25 and from where he got on to the sloping roof of Barlow and Parker‛s warehouse. P.C. Harrison, although he heard these shots being fired, crept along the gutter towards Craig. To do so he was lying on his back with his feet in the gutter, and was completely helpless. 65

Presenting a sitting target, he could do nothing whatsoever to avoid such shots as were fired towards him as he lay or crawled or crept along. Craig saw him and deliberately fired at him, certainly once, probably twice. Harrison, realising that it was suicide to attempt to go further, crawled back, got down, raced round to the door of the main building and 70 with the other officers, shortly came up that statement, (the one leading

to the roof) when a key had been obtained, and joined in the fight on the roof.

Meanwhile, to come back to what was happening on the roof, McDonald asked Fairfax, after these shots had been fired at Harrison, 75 “What sort of gun has he got?” Bentley still under arrest, cut in and said, “He‛s got a .45 Colt and plenty of ammunition for it too.”

Down below the police, as I have stated, had found somebody with the keys, had got the door open at the foot and came racing up the stairs. They were led by P.C. Miles. Miles, when he got to the head of the 80 staircase, went straight out on to the roof. Craig fired again. Miles fell dead with a bullet straight between the eyes. Craig then came from behind the stack holding the gun in both hands and fired again at the stairs.

P.C. Harrison was next out of the doorway. Stepping over Miles‛ body, 85 he threw at Craig all he had to throw, his truncheon, a bottle he had picked up somewhere and a block of wood. The reply by Craig was quite clear:

“I am Craig. You have just given my brother twelve years. Come on, you coppers. I‛m only sixteen.” 90

And another shot was fired. Then, Bentley, at that moment technically under arrest and with men

who were being shot at, said, “You want to look out; he‛ll blow your heads off.”

At that moment they began to take him downstairs, and he shouted, 95 “Look out, Chris; they‛re taking me down.”

The reply from Craig was another burst of firing. You gentlemen of the jury, will have to interpret all the evidence in

this case, and you will have to interpret that further observations by Bentley, made, although he is technically under arrest, while he is still on 100 the roof where the fight is going on and, to all intents and purposes, in the presence of Craig. He is being taken down by the police officers and he calls out, “Look out, Chris; they‛re taking me down.” Was that a further invitation? Cry for help? What was it? The result was clear: a further burst of firing by Craig. 105

Then P.C. Jaggs arrived. He came up the drain-pipe and came round at the head of the stairs. Fairfax had gone down with Bentley, and at the foot of the stairs he was given a gun. That shows how long this fight had been going on, for the police, hearing the firing had had time to send to the police station and get firearms from the proper authorised supply, 110 and return.

Fairfax was given a gun with which to return to the fight. As he got to the top of the stairs, now for the first time armed, he shouted to Craig, “Drop your gun, I also have a gun,” and he ran straight at him in the

darkness in a semi-circle, firing twice. He missed. Down below in the 115 garden was P.C. Lowe, because the police reinforcements were such that the whole building was now surrounded, and he from his position in the garden looked up and saw Craig outlined against the sky on a railing which is close to the top of the lift shaft of stack.

Craig above at the railing was heard by several officers to make a 120 little speech; various officers heard part of it, but Lowe seems to have heard most of it completely. The answer to Fairfax coming out with a gun and shouting to Craig, "Drop your gun, I also have a gun,” was this: “Yes, it‛s a Colt .45. Are you hiding behind a shield, is it bullet proof? Are we going to have a shooting match? It‛s just what I like. Have they hurt you 125 Derek?” Now that is Derek Bentley, who at that moment was being taken down the stairs by police officers after he had called out, “Look out, Chris; they‛re taking me down.”

Officers then heard four clicks, clicks as of a gun the trigger of which had been pulled but for some reason has not fires and then a shot, 130 and then a cry from Craig, “There, it‛s empty” and then he dived from the roof into the darkness below, which is 20 to 25 feet. He seems to have fallen beyond the glass of the greenhouse, that is to say he jumped just short of the greenhouse. As he jumps he throws his revolver; the revolver goes through the glass and makes that hole in the roof, and is 135 later found in the greenhouse.

He falls short and in some way breaks his wrist, hurts his back and the middle of his chest or breastbone, and there lies injured. As he jumps he calls out, “Give my love to…” It sounds like a girl‛s name. I do not know what; but when he arrived below, a police officer, not knowing, 140 of course, whether he was still armed or not, or how injured he was or was not, jumped at him, and as he holds him down, Craig says, “I wish I was…dead. I hope I‛ve killed the lot.” You will bear in mind if any question arises as to the intent with which he was shooting at police officers on this night. 145

On him was found a different kind of sheath-knife. So he had a knife as well as a gun, and Bentley had a knife as well as a knuckle-duster. The gun fight, if such as it was, was at an end. Constable Fairfax was taken to hospital, so was Craig, and P.C. Miles to the mortuary.

The case for the prosecution is this: that Craig deliberately and 150 wilfully murdered that police constable, P.C.Miles, and thereafter glorified in the murder; that Bentley incited Craig to begin the shooting and although technically under arrest at the actual time of the killing of Miles, was party to that murder and equally responsible in law.”

In his defence Derek Bentley‛s father argues that Christmas Humphrey‛s interpretation of the facts of what actually happened on the rood are incorrect. He makes the following points about Humphrey‛s case for the prosecution:

i “It‛s strange because our Derek never ever called Craig “Chris”, but always “Kid” of “Kiddo” and yet the police said they heard Derek say “Let him have it, Chris.” I can‛t understand it.

ii “In Christmas Humphreys‛ case for the prosecution he says that our Derek “got away” (lines 20 to 24). As I understand it though, our Derek never left P.C. Fairfax‛s side, after his arrest, throughout the whole of the incident.”

iii “Our Derek never attempted to attack or even escape from P.C. Fairfax, who was injured, yet he had the opportunity to.”

iv “When P.C. Miles was shot dead our Derek was nowhere near Craig. In fact he was actually in custody with P.C. Fairfax. What I want to know is how can our Derek be accused of a crime that was committed when he was already under arrest?”

v “They found a knuckle-duster and a knife on our Derek when they brought him down off that roof. Now if my son was on Craig‛s side why didn‛t he use them against P.C. Fairfax or any other police officer? That‛s what I want to know.”

vi “My son Derek actually attempted to help the police on that roof and on several occasions offered information to them. So how could he be seen to be against the police and attempting to help Craig?”

DEATH ON A ROOF

1) Access to the premises of Barlow and Parker was via an alley leading from Tamworth Road down the side of the building. 2) Craig and Bentley were

followed up the drainpipes to the roof of the building by Constables Fairfax and McDonald.

3) As soon as the two teenagers realised they had been spotted, they took cover in the shadows behind the tall brickbuilt lift shaft.

4) Constable Fairfax grabbed Derek Bentley but then Craig opened fire. The policeman dragged Bentley to cover behind the skylights.

5) Constable Miles burst out of the stairwell straight into the fire from Craig‛s revolver. He was hit in the head and died instantly.

6) As Craig continued to exchange fire with the by-now armed police, he dived head-first off the roof in an attempt at suicide.

Barlow and Parker‛s confectionery warehouse in Tamworth Road Road, Croydon, was not the original burglary target. Derek Bentley had stolen the keys to a butcher‛s shop in the same south London street, and together with his friend Christopher Craig and two other young men he had gone to rob the shop of its weekend takings. On finding that the butcher‛s was occupied, two of the boys decided to go home. But Craig and Bentley decided to look for something else.

Barlow and Parker‛s was their third choice. The street seemed deserted, so they climbed over a gate and went down an alley at the side of the building. They did not realise that they had been spotted from a house across the street, nor that there was a police station just 400 yards away in North End Road.

Once the police had been notified that a burglary was in progress they were on the spot within four minutes. While one officer went to find the keyholder, the others climbed up the drainpipes after the burglars.

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"The state versus craig and bentley"

This question paper asks you to imagine that you are involved in the Craig and Bentley Trial from the viewpoint of 3 different people.

We have called these three situations.

There is a task in each situation.

SITUATION ONE

Consider “The Case for the Prosecution” that Christmas Humphreys presents. Throughout the case it is noted that Police Constable Fairfax is central to the incident that took place on the roof of Barlow and Parker‛s warehouse on the night of 2 November, 1952.

TASK

Making use of the diagram provided write the detailed report of the incident that P.C. Fairfax submitted to his superior officer after his discharge from hospital. The report must start from P.C. Fairfax getting up on the roof (line 12) up to, and including, him being given a gun with which to return to the fight.

Here is the beginning of the report:

“I climbed up a drain-pipe and got onto the roof. On seeing Craig and Bentley I walked towards them and said, “I am a police officer. Come out from behind that stack…”

SITUATION TWO

In his case for the prosecution, Christmas Humphreys asks the jury to:

“…interpret all the evidence in this case.”

On two occasions during the scene on the roof Derek Bentley is quoted:

“Let him have it Chris.” (line 24) “Look out Chris; they‛re taking me down.” (line 127 - 128)

TASK

You are a member of the jury that sat at the trial of Craig and Bentley in December, 1952.

How would you argue against the following jury member who seems to be speaking for the majority of the jury:

i “I think that when Bentley shouted “Let him have it, Chris.” He was inviting Craig to shoot P.C. Fairfax – in other words “Shoot him, Chris.”

THE SCENE OF THE CRIME