Murder, Mystery and My Family (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Episode #1.2 - full transcript

The British justice system

is the envy of the world.

But in the past, mistakes have been made.

Between the year 1900, and the year 1964,

approximately 800 people were
hanged in the United Kingdom.

Many of those desperately
protested their innocence.

Some of these
long-standing convictions

could be a miscarriage of justice.

She's received most of
the blows in this position

once she's already bleeding.

In this
series, a living relative



will attempt to clear their family name.

That I'm just hoping that this'll actually

prove what I believe.

That he is innocent.

Searching for new evidence.

I can make the .32 fire both calibers.

With help from two of

the UK's leading barristers.

One for the defense.

This is a very worrying case.

I think the evidence is very suspect.

And one for the prosecution.

I'm still of the view

that this was a cogent case of murder



committed during the course of a robbery.

They are on a
mission to solve the mystery.

Submitting their findings
to a Crown Court judge.

There is a real risk that there has been

a miscarriage of justice here.

I will look again at the
evidence in the light of

the arguments that you
both have put before me.

Can this modern investigation.

Rewrite history?

On the 19th of
August 1951, in Liverpool,

54 year-old widow, Beatrice Rimmer,

was discovered by her son,
Thomas, bludgeoned to death.

Chief Inspector Herbert Balmer

charged petty criminals,
22 year-old Edward Devlin,

and 21 year-old Alfred Burns, with murder.

Despite pleading their innocence,

both were found guilty by a jury.

At nine am, on April 25th
1952, they were executed,

in a rare double hanging.

63 year-old grandmother,
Lindsay Langlands,

is a direct descendant of Edward Devlin.

She's flown from her life in Australia

in search of the truth.

Hi, there.

The Devlin
family have always believed

that Edward was innocent.

Edward Devlin was my father's cousin.

There was a lot of shame
and stigma involved

with what went on at that time.

To the extent that my parents
never even told me about it,

or told anybody else
in our family about it.

I'm just hoping that, given
that the evidence is going to

be looked at again, it'll
actually prove what I believe,

from my heart, that he is innocent.

And that he should not have
been hung in the first place.

From a working-class background,

Edward was one of five children.

He lived in the slums of Manchester,

and after a short stint in the army,

found himself aged 21,
trying to make ends meet

through petty theft.

Certain of his guilt,
Chief Inspector Balmer

arrested Edward three
months after the murder.

Helping Lindsay unravel the truth

are two of the country's top legal minds.

Jeremy Dein QC, is a defense
lawyer with over 30 years

at the criminal bar,
specializing in murder cases.

Sasha Wass QC, is a high-profile barrister

who has successfully prosecuted cases of

fraud, murder, and sexual misconduct.

Hello.

Hello, Lindsay, good to meet you.

Hello.

Both have agreed
to look in to the case.

Take a seat.

But first,

they have a key question for Lindsay.

Clearly, no one can
promise that the outcome

will be positive.

Are you ready for the
worst, if, in the end,

the judge concludes that
these convictions were safe?

I'm quite prepared for that.

Lindsay, you're sure about that?

Because, sometimes, there
are cases where the evidence

against a defendant
becomes considerably worse

from the material that
you already know about.

However, I will be entirely objective,

so if any of the fresh
evidence that comes to light

causes doubt on the convictions,
I will be raising that.

I'm still happy to go ahead. I've traveled

over 10,000 miles to see
this case be re-investigated.

And it's something that's
really important for myself

and my family, so yes, I am prepared.

The barristers will be examining

five key areas of the case,

before a reconstruction
of the crime itself.

Their findings will then be

submitted to a Crown Court judge,

who could recommend the case for review,

or uphold the original guilty verdict.

First, the barristers need to get to grips

with the facts of the murder.

In the 1950s, Liverpool was at the heart

of post-war Britain's
world shipping trade.

Working-class families rubbed shoulders

with the newly affluent.

And as a consequence,
petty crime was rife.

The murder victim, Beatrice Rimmer,

also known as Alice,

was a much-loved widow
of a local businessman,

and a doting mother to her only son.

Her death, and the subsequent conviction,

shook the local area of
Wavertree to the core.

With no physical evidence
remaining from the original trial,

the barristers are on their
way to the crime scene.

Has the house remained the same 65 years.

After the murder?

So, Jeremy, the photographs
reveal, quite clearly,

that the layout of the house is identical.

The stairway, the
dimensions of the hallway,

and this is really useful
to try and work out

what's happened.

And we can see here, from this photograph,

that Alice Rimmer was found
really lying about here.

With her head towards
the back of the house.

We can see she's still
wearing her overcoat,

she still had her umbrella over her arm,

that she must have been
attacked almost immediately

on coming into the house,

and then been knocked to the ground.

Alice Rimmer's
body was discovered

by her son, Thomas.

He initially came under suspicion,

but was soon discounted.

He testified seeing her
through the letterbox,

lying in the hallway.

Without a key, Thomas was forced to enter

through a broken rear window.

The prosecution alleged
the motive for the crime

was robbery.

But it appeared nothing had been taken.

Lindsay's come to
Liverpool Central Library

to search the archive.

She's hoping to fill in some
missing facts about the case.

Wavertree murder trial opens.

Blows rained on widow.

Two accused.

A queue four-deep
stretched for about 60 ya

outside St. George's Hall this afternoon,

hoping to get into the court.

The case created headlines,

and attracted huge crowds to the trial.

But what the world didn't see,

were the private letters
written by the two defendants

to their loved ones.

It's distressing for
me to read where Teddy

actually does say, "I can
honestly say we are innocent.

"And in time I hope to prove it."

That, to me, is just so distressing,

because it shows his belief
in the system that failed him.

And hung him, ultimately.

Whilst Lindsay
relives her family's

emotional past, the barristers

are at the National Archives, in London.

It wasn't just the family who believed

in the boys' innocence, the
case caused public outcry.

Jeremy, I've got another box here.

Oh, well it's just an
extraordinary amount of material,

bearing in mind that
65 years have elapsed.

This is a petition put together

by approximately 6000 people,

for the reprieve of Edward
Devlin and Alfred Burns.

Trying to stop these two
men from being hanged.

Wading through
hundreds of documents,

Sasha has discovered
something heart-wrenching.

Jeremy, there's a letter
here, that I found,

from the mothers of the two defendants.

To the Queen.

"Please, your majesty,
we, your humble servants,

"two working-class, widowed mothers,

"respectfully beg to draw
your attention urgently

"to the plight of our
sons, who are due to die

"on Friday morning.

"And as a last resort, we are appealing to

"your gracious majesty's
clemency and mercy

"to intervene to save
the lives of our sons."

And it's signed by both of them.

So why was there
such a huge public outcry

to these convictions?

Both testified that they couldn't

have been committing the
murder on that night,

because they were committing
a robbery in another city.

The lads were petty criminals,
known to the local bobbies.

They maintained that on
the night of the murder,

they were 40 miles away,

at an isolated warehouse on
the outskirts of Manchester,

stealing goods for the black market,

But the jury didn't believe a word of it.

Lindsay has come across a
harrowing newspaper article.

"As the prison clock
struck nine am yesterday,

"thirteen weeping women melt
on the edge of the pavement

"outside Walton Jail, Liverpool."

In fact, one of those
women is my grandmother.

"Nine minutes later, a
warder posted up two notices

"on the prison door, judgment
of death had been carried out

"on Edward Devlin, 23,

and Alfred Burns, 22,

"for the murder of Mrs. Beatrice Rimmer.

"While police held back the crowd,

"a small gray-haired woman,
Burns' widowed mother,

"Mrs. Alan Burns, walked
alone to the gate,

"stood for two minutes
looking at the sign,

"then friends led her away, weeping."

This is so sad.

"Devlin's mother, Mrs. Amy Devlin."

Who was my great aunt.

"46 at the time, was not outside the jail.

"She attended Mass in a church

"near her home in Hulme, Manchester."

Oh dear, this is just so sad.

It's just so unbelievable that
two young blokes like that,

their lives just gone, just gone.

The barristers are hoping

modern forensics can unlock new evidence.

All that remains are
crime scene photographs

and the scientific reports from the case.

Jeremy is meeting Home Office
pathologist, Dr. Fegan-Earl.

He's hoping to identify
a possible murder weapon.

Something that was never discovered

in the police investigation.

Have you had a chance to look at

the original pathology and
forensic science reports?

Yes.

And the photographs?

Yes, I have, thank you.

I want to ask you
about the murder weapon.

Yes.

Devlin and Burns denied
having murdered Alice Rimmer,

but they were linked to
possession of a cosh.

What's you opinion as to the possibility

that a cosh was, indeed,
the murder weapon?

Looking at the description of the wounds,

they do describe a mixture of wounds,

some of which are consistent with impact

with a blunt object, such
as a cosh, like a bat.

But also, there are some other wounds

with a much sharper edge,

so I don't think a cosh
can reasonably explain

the totality of injuries
on this lady's head.

So, is it your view that
both a bladed instrument,

such as a knife, and a cosh-type weapon

caused these injuries?

You've got two attackers.

One with a blunt instrument,
one with a knife.

To produce that series of injuries,

they're likely to injure one another.

And, so, you're saying one
person caused these injuries

rather than two people.

Yes, I think that is a
reasonable suggestion.

And you'll be able to help us as to

the type of weapons that
might have been able

to cause these injuries?

Yes, I'll give that some consideration.

Thank you.

So, the pathological evidence

points to a single attacker.

Suggesting either Devlin,
or Burns, may be innocent.

Sasha is at Greenwich
University with Dr. Jan Guest,

a forensic scientist who specializes

in blood pattern analysis.

They're exploring the
single attacker theory.

We've got three photgraphs here.

The first showing Mrs. Rivers' body,

and the wall behind her.

And another of you can just
see the top of her body there,

looking at that same wall straight on.

And then we're also
looking at the front door.

We've got a cluster of bloodstains

right in front of where her head is.

Yes.

Which seems to radiate away from her head.

And that would suggest
to me that she's received

a number of blows when she's been

in pretty much that
position, on the floor.

Are there tests that
you can do to recreate

how blood spatter is formed?

Yes, there's a piece of
equipment that we use

with the students in the lab.

Right

To recreate impact pattern.

So we can see how it looks.

Can I go and have a look?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, this is the Rat Trap device.

It's basically a spring-loaded metal plate

which we can pull back,

and it will drop down onto
the lower metal plate here

and create impact spatter

when we put some blood
staining on the lower plate.

Okay.

Okay, so I just load the blood

across the front edge.

It's a bit loud.

Okay, so you see how you get
clustering of blood staining

just straight in front of the impact area.

Which is what we also see in
those crime scene photographs,

that clustering of blood
staining in front of her head.

And then you also get
radiating bloodstains,

that come away from that source of impact.

Which is, again, what we see
in the crime scene photographs.

The blood pattern in the hall

shows that Alice received multiple blows,

however it doesn't prove
whether there was one

or two assailants.

Lindsay has come to Liverpool Prison,

where Edward Devlin and
Alfred Burns were hanged.

She wants to pay her respects to the boys,

whose bodies remain in the prison grounds.

Oh, this is very difficult.

I've been told to look for a plaque

with number 55, where do I start?

Their final resting
place is now a car park.

The burial site marked only by a number.

Where are you, Teddy?

Where are you?

56.

39.

They're not even in sequence.

55.

And this is all there is to
acknowledge two young men

who I believe were hung innocently

for a crime that they didn't commit.

You wanted to have your
names cleared of this crime,

and I'm doing my best
to do that for you guys.

It's so sad just looking at this.

Here's Teddy and Alfie,
buried below a carpark.

They just built completely over

the top of where their bodies are,

it would be so nice for them
to have a proper burial.

I'm hoping that we will be able to

give these two young
men what they deserved.

Jeremy and Sasha have come

to Merseyside Police Station.

They've been granted access
to historic police files.

Sasha, this is an opportunity
to look at police files

which contain evidence
that was used at the trial

and, from what I believe,
material that wasn't.

Nineteen
year-old George McLoughlin

was a prolific convicted criminal.

He testified that Burns and Devlin

could have carried out the murder.

Jeremy has found a
police statement from him

that the jury never saw.

Let me start with the
witness, George McLoughlin.

What is astonishing, when
you look at these files,

is that McLoughlin had, in fact,

named someone completely different

when he first talked about this murder.

He named someone called Dutton.

The defense cannot have been told

that McLoughlin had named Dutton,

because had the defense been told,

this would have been used.

This is gold dust-type material,

and it makes me wonder whether

these men were wrongly convicted.

Jeremy, I think the problem
that both of us have

in this case, is that so little
has been properly recorded

in the way it would be recorded nowadays.

So, we aren't sure, with any certainty,

what was given to the
defense, and what wasn't.

21 year-old Manchester girl, June Berry,

testified that she had
heard both boys discussing

robbing an old woman just
days before the murder.

On the 8th of October 1951, June Berry

makes a statement to the police,

and she describes a conversation
with Burns and Devlin

in which they are discussing
doing a criminal job.

And it's said by Mr. Burns,
"I think it's worth trying.

"It's easy, the woman has plenty of money.

"If the old woman makes trouble,
I can easily handle her."

Berry had been
romantically linked to Devlin,

but could this have been
a motive for accusing him?

I don't find June Berry to be

an impressive witness at all.

A week after she made a statement

implicating Devlin and Burns,

she made a statement to the
police implicating another man.

Whether she was a woman scorned,

and that was a motive behind
what she told the police.

Well, there's no doubt that
the character of June Berry

was attacked vehemently during
the course of the trial.

Particularly in respect of her morals.

I'm not sure how, nowadays,

we would regard it as significant.

Finally, Marie
Milne, just seventeen,

lived with her parents and testified

that she met with both men
shortly after the murder.

She had the most damning evidence of all.

She had no criminal history.

She didn't blame anyone else at any stage.

And she was drawn into a scheme

to rob Mrs. Rimmer by acting as a lookout.

Devlin has blood on his handkerchief,

which is binding his hand,

and at one stage, she
heard Devlin say to Burns,

"Will the woman live?"

And Burns says, "To hell with the woman,

"we'll be out of Liverpool before long."

Sasha, what I say, is that you have

taken Marie Milne's evidence
at face value, and I.

Jeremy, the jury must have been sure

that she was telling the truth

when she spoke about
Burns' and Devlin's guilt.

As the barristers make progress,

Lindsay is keen to learn
more about Alfred Burns.

She's arranged to meet his cousin, Angela,

and her daughter, Donna,
for the first time.

They're meeting at the White
Lion pub in Manchester,

where Devlin and Burns used to drink.

I actually went to the library,

and you might be interested
in having a look at,

this is one of the clippings from one of

the papers at the time.

And my grandmother's in it, actually.

Oh.

That's her there.

Yeah.

Devlin's mother.

I can't remember, I've looked at

so many different articles of the time,

but to actually see a picture, there.

They're sat down, kneeling.

It's heartbreaking, isn't it.

They're kneeling and praying
and look at them all.

And look at their faces.

I lost my daughter, so
I know how Aunt Nelly

must be feeling, and
under those circumstances.

Yes, yeah.

That is awful.

You can't imagine

what it must be like for a mother

when that life's been taken.

Yeah, it still feels, that's our family,

I just don't feel that
they ever had a fair trial.

They didn't have one, no, no.

No, of course they didn't.

The fact that they didn't
get their sons' bodies.

Oh, yeah.

Not only have they lost their children,

they weren't able to bury them.

That's right.

It's never too late to right the wrong.

More often than not,
people who commit murders,

it's usually people who they know.

Yes.

Yeah.

More often than not.

Well, we all have our theories about that.

- I certainly do.
- That's right, yeah, exactly.

The barristers
have brought the evidence,

and the experts, together
for a reconstruction

of the crime scene.

Will it reveal what really
happened that night?

Can it prove if Devlin and
Burns committed the murder?

And if not, who did?

Pathologist, Dr. Fegan-Earl,

is first to reveal his findings.

We've got a reconstruction of
something how it might look.

We can see her opening the door,

she's suddenly taken aback,

puts her arm up, falls to the ground

in the position that we had
her as demonstrated here

I think that this
demonstrates the small area

in which the assault has taken place.

Can Dr. Fegan-Earl
link one murder weapon

to the two types of injuries
inflicted to Mrs. Rimmer?

Therefore, supporting the
single attacker theory?

One weapon suggested by
the prosecution was a cosh.

Can we start,
please, with the cosh?

Well, if we look at the
cosh, it's a typical example

of a blunt weapon, but
it would not explain

the very clean-edged
wounds that were described

by the original pathologist.

What about a more common
implement, like an ax?

Well, if we look at what this weapon has,

it has a clean cutting
edge, it's got blunt faces,

causing those bruised, irregular areas,

and it's also got a degree of weight.

You'll recall that there
were fractures to the skull.

So, I believe that this
object has all of the features

that if one implement only was used.

So it's possible, from the
pathological perspective,

that one person did all
of this to Mrs. Rimmer

with one implement?

Yes, I believe
that is plausible, yes.

That's very interesting.

So, the reconstruction
has already indicated

that the likely murder
weapon was an ax, not a cosh,

and was handled by a single assailant.

Next, forensic scientist, Dr. Jan Guest,

who thinks the key in the case could be

the broken window
discovered by Thomas Rimmer.

So, we're in the parlor
at the back of the house

and this is the window.

The prosecution hinted at the suggestion

that Devlin and Burns had
got through that window

into Mrs. Rimmer's home,
before killing her.

Is there any forensic evidence
to support that suggestion?

No, the forensic
statement at the time said

they found no evidence
that anyone had come in

through the window.

There were no fingerprints,
no fibers, no scuffs,

or marks of any kind
to suggest that someone

had come in through the window.

But, Thomas Rimmer told the police that

he did climb through that window.

He said that he got to his mother's home,

looked through the letterbox,

saw her lying on the
ground, couldn't get in,

went round the back,
saw the window broken.

And climbed in.

Thomas Rimmer had to demonstrate

to the police three times how
he got through the window.

Only once managing to do it
without leaving any marks.

We can see in the photograph you had there

of Thomas Rimmer, he's
having to put his hand

on the window, there, to steady himself

as he climbs through.

So, we would really expect

to find finger marks on the window.

And then we look at how
narrow the opening is,

and the sharp edges we
have from the glass,

I'd have expected him to

catch his clothing on there, as well,

and possibly transfer some fibers.

Thomas was wearing a Harris Tweed jacket,

much like this one,

and you can see that the fibers
are quite prominent on it,

they're quite loose,

and in fact, fibers have been
transferred to the window,

even just from me pulling
it through, just then.

How likely is it, in your view,

that Thomas Rimmer climbed
through that broken window?

I think, based on the evidence

that they talk about at the
time, it's very unlikely

that he climbed through that window.

None of the forensic evidence

supports the case
against Burns and Devlin.

We really need to find out
more about Thomas Rimmer.

But Jeremy, we still
don't have any explanation

as to why he would want
to kill his mother.

With the submissions
to the judge looming,

the barristers are closing
in on potential new evidence.

So, Lindsay has returned
to London for an update.

Lindsay, since you and I last met,

Jeremy and I have been to Liverpool.

We have looked at the evidence relating

to the main prosecution witnesses,

and I have to say, on that evidence alone,

I have not had cause

to question the safety of the convictions.

Sasha, quite frankly, I don't give a stuff

about what you think, or the jury,

or the people who gave
evidence at that trial.

Because, as far as I'm concerned,

there was a lot of lies that were told,

there was a lot of evidence
that wasn't put forward.

And, I will be relying on what Jeremy

will be telling me.

Lindsay, I just want to
reassure you that, in my view,

there's still a considerable way to go.

Lindsay, I do have more to tell you,

because Jeremy and I spent some time

at a reconstruction, and it
is now clear to both of us

that there is nothing scientific

to connect Mr. Devlin, and Mr. Burns,

to the killing of Alice Rimmer.

Well, at least that
gives me some more reason

to feel a bit more positive.

So, the reconstruction

has revealed inconsitencies
in the testimony

of Alice Rimmer's own son, Thomas.

And the jury was never informed

he was an early suspect in the case.

I've now seen a good deal of material,

and I'm really concerned about the quality

of the police investigation.

After more than 30 years as
a criminal defense barrister,

my instinct is my best friend,

and I have a hunch that

the senior investigating
officer behaved improperly.

And that he might well have influenced

subordinate officers to do the same.

So, this is an area, I feel,

might well be very important.

I could be wrong, but that's my instinct.

Jeremy knows,
if he can find something

to cast doubt on the police investigation,

he might be able to persuade the judge.

Two years before Devlin and
Burns were charged with murder,

Chief Inspector Balmer led another case.

The Cameo Cinema murders.

More than 50 years later,

books on this case have been published

by crime writer, George Skelly.

So, George, how did you
first become interested

in the Devlin and Burns case?

Through writing my previous book

about the Cameo murder case,

in which Bert Balmer was
involved in both cases

as Chief Investigating Officer.

So, there was a common
chief officer in both cases

and I believe, that, thanks,
in part, to your book,

the Cameo murder convictions were quashed

by the Court of Appeal.

Yes.

Bert Balmer, the senior officer,

is branded a liar.

Yes, in 2003 he
was branded a liar, yes.

By the court of appeal?

By the court of appeal.

He was condemned for deliberate
concealment of evidence

and suborning witnesses.

Do you believe that,

if the jury in the Devlin and Burns case

had known that Bert Balmer was a liar,

that it might have made a
difference to the verdict?

Oh, the verdict would
have been Not Guilty.

The two men would have been
acquitted, without doubt.

They would have been acquitted.

The clear victim in this case,

was the brutally murdered Alice Rimmer.

But the Burns and Devlin
families have also suffered.

Living with the social stigma of

having an executed murderer in the family.

Hello.

Hi.

Lindsay is meeting with her brother,

who was secretly put up for adoption

by the Devlin family

at the time of the execution.

Mum and dad never told
any of us about Teddy,

or about you.

And I mean, they're two significant things

that happened in their lives.

Well, it was a long time ago.

Times were different then.

Attitudes were different
to unmarried mothers.

You have no real idea
and there's no real way

we can maybe find out
what the situation was,

and why things happened
the way they happened.

I just can't imagine mum,
even being unmarried,

adopting a baby out, I just can't see it.

And I feel sad, because we missed out

on all those years, you know.

When we didn't know each other.

I never, ever imagined that I'd have

five sisters and a brother.

2000 miles away, on the
other side of the world.

Yeah.

So, what's your thoughts about all this,

what happened with Teddy
being hung, and everything?

Who knows what the end
result is going to be,

but I reckon what anybody's looking for

is for the truth to come out,

and for there to be justice.

Yes, yes, that's exactly right.

I believe whoever committed
that murder is still out there.

It's the night
before judgment day,

and both barristers are still hunting

for more key evidence.

Sasha has discovered a vital document

that was also never revealed to the jury.

The police found a letter,

dated the 20th of July 1951,

so that's a month before
Mrs. Rimmer was killed.

And it was a letter she wrote

to her husband's pension provider.

And it reads as follows.

"I'm sorry to add that I cannot look

"for any help, or sympathy, from my son.

"I've not dared tell him
about this extra allowance.

"I have given and given,
but now firmly resolved,

"not another penny.

"Money slips like water through his hands,

"and now he is realizing what he has done.

"I do know that if I passed out,

"he would have a royal time
of it for a few months."

Well that's just incredible,
because it seems to me,

that this letter, and that
sentence in particular,

provides Thomas Rimmer with
a clear potential motive

for killing his mother.

And I am very concerned that this letter

appears not to have been
disclosed to the defense.

The legal
arguments have been prepared.

And now it falls for His
Honor, Judge David Radford

to deliberate.

Based on his expert opinion,

he will recommend if the case
should be reviewed, or not.

Finally, the day is here.

This is what I've been waiting for.

The evidence is gonna be
presented to the judge

by Sasha and Jeremy.

I can only wait to see what he has to say.

There's no guarantee with that.

But, the one guarantee that I do have,

is regardless of whatever the outcome is,

I will not stop until
Teddy and Alfie's names

have been cleared.

Judge Radford has
over 40 years of experience

at the criminal bar.

He's tried many murder cases,

and sat at the Court of Appeal.

He'll be treating this matter
as he would any other case.

Today, I shall be
considering fresh material

and the arguments from learned
counsel presented to me.

In order for me to decide
if I should recommend

further reconsideration of this case.

Mr. Dein.

Your honor, my first submission is that

the prosecution case

substantially depended upon the evidence

of fundamentally unreliable witnesses.

George McLoughlin.

A convicted criminal,

he named someone else as the killer.

Second, June Berry.

21.

Who claimed to have overheard
the defendants talk,

in advance of robbing on
old woman in Liverpool.

Unreliable witnesses, submit the defense,

a very weak foundation
for the prosecution case.

Miss Wass?

Your Honor, the jury were in
the best possible position

to evaluate the evidence
of these witnesses.

And by their verdicts, the jury determined

that they were telling the
truth on the central issue,

namely the defendants' guilt.

Yes, Mr. Dein, move to your next point.

Your honor, my next point is

that the prosecution failed to disclose

information about other suspects.

In particular, Alice Rimmer's son.

Who was the first suspect
to be interviewed by police.

The last to see his mother alive.

His account was bizarre,

and unsupported by forensic evidence.

Thank you.

Yes, Miss Wass.

Your honor, I can deal with this shortly.

All the other suspects in this case

were thoroughly
investigated by the police,

and found to have little
connection, if any,

with Cranborne Road on
the 19th of August 1951.

Your honor, my final submission
is my most important.

It relies on the fact, that decades after

Mr. Devlin and Mr. Burns were executed,

the Court of Appeal found

that the senior investigating officer,

Herbert Balmer.

Had lied and concealed
evidence in another case,

the Cameo cinema murders,

which occurred shortly before this case.

That officer, Herbert
Balmer, has his footprints

over both investigations.

Both, I submit, are characterized

by the non-disclosure of
important information.

It's my submission that this new material

fundamentally supports the proposition

that the defendants were wrongly convicted

and might well, in those circumstances,

have been unjustly executed.

Thank you.

Miss Wass?

Throughout the investigation,

Sasha has been weighing
up the prosecution's case.

But will she side with Jeremy
on his final submission?

The real question, as
the Crown sees it to be,

is had the defense in
the Devlin and Burns case

been aware of Mr. Balmer's misconduct,

and the similarities with
the Cameo murder case,

might the verdict have been different?

And I consider that it might.

So, in all those circumstances,

I have no option but to support

Mr. Dein's submissions in this regard.

Thank you for your submissions.

I'm going to consider them in conjunction

with the written papers,

which I have read already,

and will now reconsider in
the light of your arguments.

And in due course, I will
let you know my view.

Thank you very much, your honor.

The barristers
have done all they can

to convince the judge that
this case should be reviewed.

For Lindsay, it could be
the start of a legal process

to get an official pardon.

Or it could be the end of any hope

that the convictions are overturned.

It's difficult to know how that went.

Judge has got a poker face,

he keeps his judgment
very close to his chest.

Well, can I say first of all,

you musn't raise your hopes in any way.

The result remains unpredictable.

We just have to wait and see.

Yep.

Okay.

Were the witnesses flawed?

Was this the real murder weapon?

Was a key suspect overlooked?

And was the whole
investigation discredited

by the leading detective?

The judge calls Lindsay and the barristers

for his final verdict.

The long shadow of the
gallows inevitably casts

a baleful light over this case.

It is true that the civilian witnesses

had inconsistencies in their accounts.

However, these were matters for the jury

who saw and heard them.

I find no proper basis for
reviewing the convictions

on this basis alone.

I believe the fact that Mr. Balmer,

his involvement in that Cameo Cinema case,

tainted him as an investigating officer.

And if the extent of his being tainted

had been known to the defense
in this Devlin Burns case,

at the trial, that together
with the disclosure of evidence

that should have been
made known to the defense

at the time, could have
had a significant impact

on the jury's evaluation of the evidence

that was presented to them.

After full consideration I concur

that there are proper grounds here

for re-referring this
case to the commission,

to evaluate whether the Court of Appeal

should be asked to
consider the case again.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Jeremy.

Thank you, Sasha.

If I may say so, it's
absolutely the correct decision.

Anyone who has been wrongly
executed deserves justice.

And so does Mrs. Rimmer.

And this is the beginning of, hopefully,

getting to the end of what has been

an extraordinarily difficult journey

for all concerned.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I'm feeling happy, but I'm
very overwhelmed, of course.

It feels really good to know

that the judge has seen this new evidence,

and that he is in agreement

that there is grounds there for a review.

And I will just now keep going

until their names are cleared.