Let him have it, Chris
Two teenage tearaways broke into a wholesale confectioner. Caught in the act by the police, the young burglar decided to fight his way clear. But it all went tragically wrong. In a wild blast of gunfire, the robbery turned into a murder. But who was guilty?
When Christopher Craig called on his friend, Derek Bentley, on the evening of 2 November 1952, Bentley’s mother, Lillian, told him that her son was out.
This was untrue. Derek was in the living room, watching a variety show on TV. He had come home early from his regular Sunday evening at the pictures because he had one of his headaches.
Mrs Bentley lied because she and her husband felt that Craig was a bad influence on their son. Although Derek, at 19, was three years older than Craig, he was simple-minded and easily led, and the younger boy was always talking about crime. That morning, Craig had frightened Derek’s little brother, Dennis, by showing him a knuckle duster.
Derek had told his parents on occasions that he wanted to be rid of Craig, that he was a “nutter”. Still, however, they hung around together. Whatever Bentley told his parents, the two youths had gone house-breaking together more than once.
Craig went away, but a few minutes later there was another knock at the door. A youth introduced himself as Norman Parsley and asked if Derek wanted to come out for a walk. The Bentleys saw nothing to fear in the well – spoken Parsley, and Derek grabbed his coat and went off with him. Craig was waiting for them around the corner, with one or two others.
The previous day, Bentley had pocketed the keys of a butcher’s shop in Tamworth Road, Croydon. The shop and, they hoped, the weekends takings were just a short bus ride away from Norbert, where Craig and Bentley both lived. On the bus, Craig presented Bentley with the knuckle duster he had made. Bentley put it in his overcoat pocket, and promptly forgot about it. He hated violence.
