Don T, I think you said they'd filmed themselves. To some people that might possibly suggest a degree more bravura on their part than was actually the case. It was a small point of fact, that's all. I didn'texpect you to bridle. Incidentally none of them seems ever to ohave admitted the murder or discussed it, even during the many hours over which they were secretly filmed.

Good points Jacqui. That ambiguous phrase of Bentley's was indeed considered at the trial, but subsequently strong doubts were raised about whether the comment was made at all, with some persuasive evidence that it was concocted in the course of "verbaling" while Bentley was being transported with three officers in a police car. The real issue was whether Bentley had known Craig was armed. The jury chose to believe that he did know - enough for him to be found guilty on grounds of "common purpose" even though he had surrendered into police custody when the shooting occured. After thatt, the matter was out of the hands of the jury, and even the judge had limited options. The real scope for discretion lay with the Home Secretary, David Maxwell Fyfe, who could have granted a reprieve. Grounds (apart from the sheer injustice) included the fact that Bentley had been assessed as having a lower mental age than Craig's actual age - something not disclosed to the jury. Craig, incidentally, tried to kill himself after the shooting but failed. He was released after 10 years in jail amd became a decent law-abiding citizen working in (I think) the transport industry.