Hanratty’s Guilt: The A6 Murder and its Aftermath

The A6 murder case shocked the nation in 1961. But after James Hanratty was convicted of the crime and executed a series of books appeared over three decades arguing that there had been a major miscarriage of justice and an innocent man had been hanged. Some even suggested that the crime had involved a conspiracy and that it originated in the private life of the murder victim, Michael Gregsten. Leonard Miller’s classic work of analysis, Shadows of Deadman’s Hill, published before the Court of Appeal’s final verdict on the case in 2002, was the first book to challenge the case for Hanratty’s innocence. Piece by piece, Miller tore apart the claims that there had been a miscarriage of justice, as set out in no less than five full-length studies of the A6 murder case. These authors, he argued, were guilty of tunnel vision. There was no secret conspiracy involving third parties. The crime was unplanned. An impulsive attempt at robbery spiralled out of control as Hanratty enjoyed the power which a newly acquired gun gave him.

Miller’s conclusion was later echoed by the subsequent Court of Appeal’s final verdict that Hanratty had all along been the A6 gunman and rapist, and that there was overwhelming proof of the safety of the conviction from an evidential perspective .

In this rewritten and expanded analysis, Leonard Miller returns after twenty years to his original study of the crime. He brings the story up to date, considers new studies, and provides the definitive account of the case for James Hanratty’s guilt. This book also includes new material communicated to the author after the publication of his earlier work.