§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Home Department will now institute a public inquiry in view of the new evidence regarding the innocence of James Hanratty who was hanged following the A.6 murder in 1961.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD STONHAM)My Lords, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has carefully considered the representations that have been made to him in respect of this case, but he can find in them no grounds for any further action on his part.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, may I just warn my noble friend the Leader of the House that he may have to pay attention to whether I go out of order, as I feel so deeply on this issue?
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (LORD SHACKLETON)My Lords, I think I can say to my noble friend that I always have him in mind in that respect.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I appreciate that reply. May I ask my noble friend Lord Stonham whether he is aware that there is grave disquiet in a sphere of wide public opinion about this matter; whether he has seen the editorials in The Times and in other responsible papers; and whether he is aware that recent witnesses from Rhyl state that they saw the executed man there on the night of the murder when he was alleged to be at the spot on the A.6 where this tragedy occurred?
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I am aware of the grave anxiety which some people have about this case and, of course, of the deep distress of the parents, for whom the Home Secretary has the very greatest sympathy. I am also aware that one Sunday newspaper continues to publish articles on this matter. But I am not aware of any general public disquiet about it.
We have considered very carefully indeed the statements of eleven persons, the majority of whom either gave evidence at the trial or whose evidence was available to the defence; and we have considered statements made, both before and after the investigation by Chief Detective Superintendent Nimmo, by these persons who claim or imply that they saw James Hanratty in Rhyl on the night of the murder or on the following day. The Home Secretary is satisfied that these statements do not constitute a confirmation of the Rhyl alibi put forward by Hanratty at his trial. All the statements are at variance with Hanratty's own account of his visit to Rhyl or irreconcilable with other statements by the same persons, or are, in some instances, irrelevant.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, while accepting completely the sincerity of the inquiries which the Home Office have made, may I ask my noble friend whether he is aware that I have gone into this matter in very great detail because it concerned my old constituency of Slough? Does he think it right that the only inquiry should have been made by the police, who were very intimately involved in the prosecution? Does he not think that it would have been better if some impartial investigation had been made of all these facts?
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I am fully aware of my noble friend's deep concern about this matter. He is not alone in being concerned; but we have our duty to perform. He has great knowledge of this case, and so has my right honourable friend. The last file on the pile, which I examined to-day, was numbered "198"; and I myself have spent not hours but days and weeks thinking over these matters. But, my Lords, a police inquiry—and we have had two—is made for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not there exist grounds 1203 for a more general inquiry, and my right honourable friend and his predecessor came to the conclusion that there were no such grounds.
§ LORD LEATHERLANDMy Lords, does not my noble friend think that some consideration ought to be given to the feelings of the girl who suffered, and is still suffering, in connection with this case; and that the more this question is ventilated along the lines upon which it has been ventilated to-day, probably the more suffering it will cause to that girl?
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, my noble friend has underlined the fact that other people have suffered (and, in the case of the girl, are still suffering) because of this case, but that would not absolve my right honourable friend from the duty of investigating further if new evidence came to light. What his duty calls for is for him to investigate thoroughly, and then to decide according to the results of that investigation.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply. May I just say—
§ LORD BROCKWAYMay I ask my noble friend whether he is aware that this woman was a constituent of mine; that I have the deepest sympathy for the paralysis of her body which has occurred from this case; and that it is not out of any lack of sympathy for her that I put these questions?
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I am aware that my noble friend raises this matter with the highest motives, as is always the case with anything he does.