They decided that the A6 Murderer must be declared 'innocent' to be used as a tool against the death penalty.
Authors like Paul Foot (Socialist Workers' Party.), inter al, insisted that he was innocent in spite of all the huge amounts evidence to the contrary.
Valerie Storey survived her rape and triple shooting and identified him. She was in a car with him for SIX hours! There were genuine questions about her visual identification but his voice was unmistakable to her.
"Call me Jim" also hid the murder weapon EXACTLY where he had stated that he would do so to others in such circumstances!
He suddenly changed his alibi in court when he feared that he would not be believed.
As Valerie was being held, he spoke of prison and having 'done hard time' AND 'done the lot.'
Only three men fitted this profile. One was in Australia, one was dead and the third was Hanratty!!!
Long, long after his death the BBC produced 11 'witnesses' in one programme of theirs to claim that he had been in Rhyl at the time of the murder. A Daily Express expose later revealed that they had been paid substantially for this testimony. (Why had none come forward at the time one might legitimately ask? - It was the biggest thing in the newspapers!)
For years, the abolitionists rather ridiculously claimed that Hanratty was innocent.
In 1997, the Yorkshire Forensics Lab analysed Valerie Storey's underwear - and wonder of wonders, his DNA popped up. They analysed the handkerchief containing the murder weapon which had been found shoved down a bus seat - that also had his DNA on it!
Too much credence to the 'injustice' movement was recently given to the Hanratty-should-not-have-hanged brigade on Fred Dinenage's Murder Casebook programme. It was appalling!
Yet. The propaganda has been so great that there are still some people who do not believe in his guilt!
If any man ever deserved to hang - it was Hanratty.
