0:00:02 > 0:00:05The British justice system is the envy of the world,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08but in the past mistakes have been made.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Between the year 1900 and the year 1964
0:00:11 > 0:00:15approximately 800 people were hanged in the United Kingdom.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Many of those desperately protested their innocence.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Some of these long-standing convictions could be a miscarriage of justice.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28She has received most of the blows in this position once she is already bleeding.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32In this series a living relative will attempt to clear their
0:00:32 > 0:00:35- family name.- I'm just hoping that this will actually prove what I
0:00:35 > 0:00:37believe, that he is innocent.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Searching for new evidence...
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I can make the .32 fire both calibres.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49..with help from two of the UK's leading barristers.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51One for the defence...
0:00:51 > 0:00:53This is a very worrying case.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I think the evidence is very suspect.
0:00:56 > 0:00:57..and one for the prosecution.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02I am still of the view that this was a cogent case of murder committed
0:01:02 > 0:01:04during the course of a robbery.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08They are on a mission to solve the mystery,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11submitting their findings to a Crown Court judge.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16There is a real risk that there has been a miscarriage of justice here.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20I will look again at the evidence in the light of the arguments that you
0:01:20 > 0:01:22both have put before me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Can this modern investigation
0:01:24 > 0:01:26rewrite history?
0:01:33 > 0:01:37On the 19th of August 1951, in Liverpool...
0:01:38 > 0:01:42..54-year-old widow Beatrice Rimmer was discovered by her son Thomas
0:01:42 > 0:01:44bludgeoned to death.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52Chief Inspector Herbert Balmer charged petty criminals
0:01:52 > 0:01:5422-year-old Edward Devlin
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and 21-year-old Alfred Burns with murder.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Despite pleading their innocence, both were found guilty by a jury.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08At 9am on April the 25th 1952,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11they were executed in a rare double hanging.
0:02:14 > 0:02:1963-year-old grandmother Lindsay Langlands is a direct descendant
0:02:19 > 0:02:21of Edward Devlin.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29She has flown from her life in Australia in search of the truth.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30Hi, there.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35The Devlin family have always believed that Edward was innocent.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Edward Devlin was my father's cousin.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44There was a lot of shame and stigma involved with what went on at that
0:02:44 > 0:02:48time, to the extent that my parents never even told me about it or told
0:02:48 > 0:02:50anybody else in our family about it.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I am just hoping that given that the evidence is going to be looked at
0:02:53 > 0:02:58again, that it will actually prove what I believe from my heart,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02that he is innocent, and he should not have been hung in the first place.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06From a working-class background, Edward was one of five children.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10He lived in the slums of Manchester, and after a short stint in the Army
0:03:10 > 0:03:14found himself, aged 21, trying to make ends meet through petty theft.
0:03:16 > 0:03:17Certain of his guilt,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Chief Inspector Balmer arrested Edward three months after the murder.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30Helping Lindsay unravel the truth are two of the country's top legal minds.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Jeremy Dein QC is a defence lawyer with over 30 years at the criminal bar,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38specialising in murder cases.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Sasha Wass QC is a high-profile barrister who has successfully prosecuted
0:03:47 > 0:03:50cases of fraud, murder and sexual misconduct.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Hello, Lindsay, good to meet you.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Both have agreed to look into the case.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03But first, they have a key question for Lindsay.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09Clearly no-one can promise that the outcome will be positive.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Are you ready for the worst if in the end the judge concludes
0:04:13 > 0:04:16that these convictions were safe?
0:04:16 > 0:04:17I'm quite prepared for that.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20Lindsay, you are sure about that?
0:04:20 > 0:04:25Because sometimes there are cases where the evidence against a defendant
0:04:25 > 0:04:31becomes considerably worse from the material that you already know about.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35However, I will be entirely objective,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39so if any of the fresh evidence that comes to light
0:04:39 > 0:04:45causes doubt on the convictions, I will be raising that.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46I'm still happy to go ahead.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51I've travelled over 10,000 miles to see this case be reinvestigated
0:04:51 > 0:04:55and it's something that is really important for myself and my family.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58So, yes, I am prepared.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05The barristers will be examining five key areas of the case,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07before a reconstruction of the crime itself.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Their findings will then be submitted to a Crown Court judge
0:05:12 > 0:05:15who could recommend the case for review
0:05:15 > 0:05:17or uphold the original guilty verdict.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21First, the barristers need to get to grips with the facts of the murder.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25In the 1950s,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Liverpool was at the heart of post-war Britain's world shipping trade.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Working-class families rubbed shoulders with the newly affluent.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37And, as a consequence, petty crime was rife.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42The murder victim, Beatrice Rimmer, also known as Alice,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45was a much-loved widow of a local businessman,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and a doting mother to her only son.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Her death and the subsequent conviction shook the local area
0:05:54 > 0:05:56of Wavertree to the core.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02With no physical evidence remaining from the original trial,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05the barristers are on their way to the crime scene.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11Has the house remained the same 65 years after the murder?
0:06:12 > 0:06:16So, Jeremy, the photographs reveal quite clearly that the layout of the
0:06:16 > 0:06:17house is identical.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20The stairway, and the dimensions of the hallway,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and this is really useful to try and work out what happened.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29And we can see here from this photograph that Alice Rimmer was found
0:06:29 > 0:06:36really lying about here with her head towards the back of the house.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38We can see she is still wearing her overcoat,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41she still had her umbrella over her arm.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46She must have been attacked almost immediately on coming into the house
0:06:46 > 0:06:48and then been knocked to the ground.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Alice Rimmer's body was discovered by her son Thomas.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56He initially came under suspicion but was soon discounted.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03He testified seeing her through the letterbox, lying in the hallway.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Without a key, Thomas was forced to enter through a broken rear window.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14The prosecution alleged the motive for the crime was robbery,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16but it appeared nothing had been taken.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Lindsay has come to Liverpool Central library to search the archive.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30She is hoping to fill in some missing facts about the case.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34"Wavertree murder trial opens.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37"Blows rained on widow, two accused."
0:07:38 > 0:07:42"A queue four deep stretched for about 60 yards outside St George's Hall
0:07:42 > 0:07:45"this afternoon, hoping to get into the court."
0:07:46 > 0:07:50The case created headlines, and attracted huge crowds to the trial.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55But what the world didn't see were the private letters written by
0:07:55 > 0:07:58the two defendants to their loved ones.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04It's distressing for me to read where Teddy actually does say,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06"I can honestly say we are innocent.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10"And in time, I hope to prove it."
0:08:10 > 0:08:15That, to me, it is just so distressing because it shows his belief in the
0:08:15 > 0:08:19system that failed him and hung him, ultimately.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Whilst Lindsay relives her family's emotional past,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28the barristers are at the National Archives in London.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It wasn't just the family who believed in the boy's innocence.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35The case caused public outcry.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Jeremy, I've got another box here.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43There is just an extraordinary amount of material,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47bearing in mind that 65 years have elapsed.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53This is a petition put together by approximately 6,000 people for the
0:08:53 > 0:08:56reprieve of Edward Devlin and Alfred Burns.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Trying to stop these two men from being hanged.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Wading through hundreds of documents,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Sasha has discovered something heart-wrenching.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Jeremy, there's a letter here that I've found from the mothers of
0:09:11 > 0:09:14the two to defendants to the Queen.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18"May it please Your Majesty, we, your humble servants,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20"two working-class widowed mothers,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24"respectfully beg to draw your attention urgently to the plight
0:09:24 > 0:09:28"of our sons, who are due to die on Friday morning."
0:09:28 > 0:09:29"And as a last resort,
0:09:29 > 0:09:34"we're appealing to your gracious Majesty's clemency and mercy to intervene
0:09:34 > 0:09:37"to save the lives of our sons."
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And it's signed by both of them.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45So why was there such a huge public outcry to these convictions?
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Both testified that they couldn't have been committing the murder on
0:09:48 > 0:09:52that night, because they were committing a robbery in another city.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57The lads were petty criminals.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Known to the local bobbies,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04they maintained that on the night of the murder, they were 40 miles away
0:10:04 > 0:10:07at an isolated warehouse on the outskirts of Manchester,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09stealing goods for the black market.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14But the jury didn't believe a word of it.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Lindsay has come across a harrowing newspaper article.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25"As the prison clock struck 9am, yesterday,
0:10:25 > 0:10:30"13 weeping women knelt on the edge of the pavement outside Walton Jail,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34"Liverpool." In fact, one of those women is my grandmother.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39"Nine minutes later, a warden posted up two notices on the prison door,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44"Judgment of death had been carried out on Edward Devlin, 23..."
0:10:47 > 0:10:50"..and Alfred Burns, 22,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53"for the murder of Mrs Beatrice Rimmer."
0:10:55 > 0:10:59"While police held back the crowd, a small, grey-haired woman,
0:10:59 > 0:11:00"Burns's widowed mother...
0:11:02 > 0:11:03"..Mrs Alan Burns...
0:11:05 > 0:11:07"..walked alone to the gate...
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"..stood for two minutes looking at the sign...
0:11:15 > 0:11:18"..then friends led her away weeping."
0:11:20 > 0:11:21This is so sad.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31"Devlin's mother, Mrs Amy Devlin," who was my great aunt,
0:11:31 > 0:11:3446 at the time...
0:11:36 > 0:11:38"..was not outside the jail.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43"She attended mass in a church near her home in Hulme, Manchester."
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Oh, dear.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47This is just so sad.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51It's just unbelievable that two young blokes like that,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53their lives just gone.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Just gone.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07The barristers are hoping modern forensics can unlock new evidence.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11All that remains are crime scene photographs,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and the scientific reports from the case.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Jeremy's meeting Home Office pathologist Dr Fegan-Earl.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He is hoping to identify a possible murder weapon,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26something that was never discovered in the police investigation.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Have you had a chance to look at the original pathology and forensic
0:12:30 > 0:12:31- science reports...- Yes, I have.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33- And the photographs?- Yes, I have. Thank you.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35I want to ask you about the murder weapon.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40- Yes.- Devlin and Burns denied having murdered Alice Rimmer,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43but they were linked to possession of a cosh.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47What's your opinion as to the possibility that a cosh was, indeed,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- the murder weapon?- Looking at the description of the wounds,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54they do describe rather a mixture of wounds,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57some of which are consistent with impact with a blunt object,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00such as a cosh, like a bat.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05But also, there are some other wounds with a much sharper edge,
0:13:05 > 0:13:11so I don't think a cosh can reasonably explain the totality of injuries on this lady's head.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16So, is it your view that both a bladed instrument, such as a knife,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21and a cosh type weapon caused these injuries?
0:13:21 > 0:13:27You've got two attackers, one with a blunt instrument, one with a knife.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33To produce that series of injuries, they're likely to injure one another.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36So, you're saying one person
0:13:36 > 0:13:40caused these injuries, rather than two people?
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Yes, I think that is a reasonable suggestion.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46And you'll be able to help us as to the type of weapons that might have
0:13:46 > 0:13:47been able to cause these injuries.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51- Yes, I'll give that some consideration.- Thank you.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54So, the pathological evidence points to a single attacker,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58suggesting either Devlin or Burns may be innocent.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Sasha is at Greenwich University with Doctor Jen Guest,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08a forensic scientist who specialises in blood pattern analysis.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11They're exploring the single attacker theory.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15We've got three photographs here, the first showing Mrs Rimmer's body,
0:14:15 > 0:14:16and the wall behind her.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19And another of a view, you can just see the top of her body there,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21looking at that same wall straight on.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23And then, we're also looking at the front door.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27We've got a cluster of bloodstains right in front of where her head is.
0:14:27 > 0:14:33- Yes.- Which seems to radiate away from her head.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37And that would suggest to me that she's received a number of blows when she's been in, pretty much,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39that position on the floor.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44Are there tests that you can do to recreate how blood spatter is formed?
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Yes, there's a piece of equipment that we use with the students in the
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- lab...- Right.- To recreate impact pattern.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- Can we go and have a look?- So we can see how it looks.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Yeah, absolutely. So, this is the rat trap device.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59It's basically a spring-loaded metal plate, which we can pull back,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and it will drop down onto the lower metal plate here and create impact
0:15:02 > 0:15:05spatter when we put some blood staining on the lower plate.
0:15:05 > 0:15:06OK.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09OK, so I just load the blood across the front edge.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14It's a bit loud.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19OK, so you see how you get clustering of blood staining just straight in
0:15:19 > 0:15:21front of the impact area,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23which is what we also see in those crime scene photographs,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26that clustering of blood staining in front of her head.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29And then you also get radiating bloodstains that come away from that
0:15:29 > 0:15:30source of impact, which is, again,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33what we see in the crime scene photographs.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39The blood pattern in the hall shows that Alice received multiple blows.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42However, it doesn't prove whether there was one or two assailants.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Lindsay has come to Liverpool prison,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55where Edward Devlin and Alfred Burns were hanged.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58She wants to pay her respects to the boys,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00whose bodies remain in the prison grounds.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04It's very difficult.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06I've been told to look for a
0:16:06 > 0:16:08plaque with number 55.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Where do I start?
0:16:10 > 0:16:14Their final resting place is now a car park.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16The burial site marked only by a number.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Where are you, Teddy? Where are you?
0:16:21 > 0:16:2456... 39...
0:16:24 > 0:16:26They're not even in sequence.
0:16:29 > 0:16:3055.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And this is all there is to acknowledge two young men,
0:16:38 > 0:16:45who I believe were hung innocently for a crime that they didn't commit.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49You wanted to have your names cleared of this crime,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and I'm doing my best to do that for you guys.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59It's so sad just looking at this.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04Here's Teddy and Alfie buried below a car park.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09They've just built completely over the top of where their bodies are.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12It would be so nice for them to have a proper burial.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17I'm hoping that we will be able to give these two young men what they
0:17:17 > 0:17:18deserved.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Jeremy and Sasha have come to Merseyside Police Station.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41They've been granted access to historic police files.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Sasha, this is an opportunity to look at police files which contain
0:17:47 > 0:17:51evidence that was used at the trial, and, from what I believe,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53material that wasn't.
0:17:53 > 0:17:5719-year-old George McLaughlin was a prolific convicted criminal.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01He testified that Burns and Devlin could have carried out the murder.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Jeremy has found a police statement from him that the jury never saw.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Let me start with the witness George McLaughlin.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14What's astonishing when you look at these files
0:18:14 > 0:18:18is that McLaughlin had in fact named someone completely
0:18:18 > 0:18:22different when he first talked about this murder.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25He named someone called Dutton.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30The defence can not have been told that McLaughlin had named Dutton,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33because had the defence been told this would have been used.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39This is gold dust type material and it makes me wonder whether these men
0:18:39 > 0:18:40were wrongly convicted.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Jeremy, I think the problem that both of us have in this case is that
0:18:44 > 0:18:48so little has been properly recorded in the way it would be recorded nowadays.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51So we aren't sure with any certainty what was given to the
0:18:51 > 0:18:54defence and what wasn't.
0:18:54 > 0:18:5821-year-old Manchester girl June Berry testified that she had heard both
0:18:58 > 0:19:02boys discussing robbing an old woman just days before the murder.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06On the 8th of October, 1951,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11June Berry makes a statement to the police and she describes a
0:19:11 > 0:19:14conversation with Burns and Devlin
0:19:14 > 0:19:19in which they are discussing doing a criminal job
0:19:19 > 0:19:24and it is said by Mr Burns, "I think it's worth trying,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26"it's easy, the woman has plenty of money.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30"If the old woman makes trouble I can easily handle her."
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Berry had been romantically linked to Devlin,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37but could this have been a motive for accusing him?
0:19:38 > 0:19:42I don't find June Berry to be an impressive witness at all.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47A week after she made a statement implicating Devlin and Burns,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51she made a statement to the police implicating another man.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56Whether she was a woman scorned and that that was the motive behind what
0:19:56 > 0:19:57- she told the police.- Well,
0:19:57 > 0:20:03there's no doubt that the character of June Berry was attacked vehemently
0:20:03 > 0:20:07during the course of the trial, particularly in respect of her morals.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12I'm not sure how nowadays we would regard it as significant.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Finally, Marie Milne, just 17,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20lived with her parents and testified that she met with both men shortly
0:20:20 > 0:20:23after the murder. She had the most damning evidence of all.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27She had no criminal history.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30She didn't blame anyone else at any stage.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33And she was drawn into a scheme
0:20:33 > 0:20:38to rob Mrs Rimmer and by acting as a lookout.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44Devlin has blood on his handkerchief, which is binding his hand,
0:20:44 > 0:20:51and at one stage she heard Devlin say to Burn, "Will the woman live?"
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and Burn says, "to hell with the woman,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56"we'll be out of Liverpool before long."
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Sasha, what I say is that you have taken Marie Milne's evidence at face value.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Jeremy, the jury must have been sure that she was telling the truth
0:21:05 > 0:21:08when she spoke about Burns' and Devlin's guilt.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13As the barristers make progress,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Lindsay is keen to learn more about Alfred Burns.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19She's arranged to meet his cousin, Angela, and her daughter, Donna,
0:21:19 > 0:21:24for the first time. They're meeting at the White Lion pub in Manchester,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26where Devlin and Burns used to drink.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30I actually went to the library and you might be interested in having
0:21:30 > 0:21:36a look at this, it's one of the clippings from one of the papers at the time,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40and my grandmother is in it, actually.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42- Oh.- That's her, there.
0:21:42 > 0:21:43- Yeah.- Devlin...
0:21:46 > 0:21:51I can't remember, I've looked at so many different articles of the time,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54but to actually see
0:21:54 > 0:21:56a picture there...
0:21:56 > 0:21:58Sat down kneeling.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59It's heartbreaking, isn't it?
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Them kneeling, praying, look at them all, and look at their faces.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10I lost my daughter, so I know how Aunt Nellie must be feeling,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12and under those circumstances.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Yes, yeah.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19- That's awful.- You can't imagine what it must be like for a mother when
0:22:19 > 0:22:21that life has been taken.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Yeah. That still feels,
0:22:24 > 0:22:25you know, that's our family.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31I just don't feel that they ever had a fair trial.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- They didn't.- No, of course they didn't.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37The fact that they didn't get their sons' bodies.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Not only have they lost
0:22:42 > 0:22:45their children, they weren't able to bury them.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50- That's right.- It's never too late to right a wrong.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52More often than not people who commit murders,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55it's usually people that they know.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57- Yes.- More often than not.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Well, we all have our theories about that.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02- That's right.- Yeah, exactly.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09The barristers have brought the evidence and the experts together for a
0:23:09 > 0:23:11reconstruction of the crime scene.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Will it reveal what really happened that night?
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Can it prove if Devlin and Burns committed the murder?
0:23:19 > 0:23:21And if not, who did?
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Pathologist Dr Fegan-Earl is first to reveal his findings.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30You've got a reconstruction of something how it might look.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35We can see her opening the door.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39She's suddenly taken aback, puts her arm up,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42falls to the ground in the position that we have her,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44as demonstrated here.
0:23:44 > 0:23:50I think that this demonstrates the small area in which the assault has
0:23:50 > 0:23:51taken place.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Can Dr Fegan-Earl link one murder weapon to the two types of injuries
0:23:57 > 0:24:01inflicted to Mrs Rimmer, therefore supporting the single attacker theory?
0:24:02 > 0:24:06One weapon suggested by the prosecution was a cosh.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Can we start, please, with the cosh?
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Well, if we look at the cosh, it's a typical example of a blunt weapon,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18but it would not explain the very clean edged wounds that were described
0:24:18 > 0:24:20by the original pathologist.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23What about a more common implement, like an axe?
0:24:23 > 0:24:27Well, if we look at what this weapon has,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29it has a clean cutting edge.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34It's got blunt faces, causing those bruised, irregular areas,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36and it's also got a degree of weight,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and you will recall there were fractures to the skull,
0:24:38 > 0:24:44so I believe this object has all of the features if one implement only was used.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49So, it's possible from the pathological perspective that one person
0:24:49 > 0:24:53did all of this to Mrs Rimmer with one implement?
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Yes, I believe that is plausible, yes.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58That's very interesting.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01So the reconstruction has already indicated that the likely murder weapon
0:25:01 > 0:25:05was an axe, not a cosh, and was handled by a single assailant.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Next, forensic scientist Dr Jen Guest,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14who thinks the key in the case could be the broken window discovered by
0:25:14 > 0:25:15Thomas Rimmer.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22So, we're in the parlour at the back of the house and this is the window.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27The prosecution hinted at the suggestion that Devlin and Burns had got
0:25:27 > 0:25:33through that window into Mrs Rimmer's home before killing her.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Is there any forensic evidence to support that suggestion?
0:25:37 > 0:25:41No, the forensic statement said they found no evidence that anyone had come in through the window.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44There were no fingerprints, no fibres,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48no scuffs or marks of any kind to suggest someone had come in through the window.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55But Thomas Rimmer told the police that he did climb through that window.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00He said that he got to his mother's home, looked through the letterbox,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05saw her lying on the ground, couldn't get in, went round the back,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10saw the window broken and climbed in.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Thomas Rimmer had to demonstrate to the police three times how he got
0:26:13 > 0:26:16through the window, only once managing to do it
0:26:16 > 0:26:18without leaving any marks.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21We can see in the photograph you had there of Thomas Rimmer,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25he's having to put his hand on the window there to steady himself as he
0:26:25 > 0:26:28climbs through, so we would really expect to find fingermarks on the
0:26:28 > 0:26:32window, and then we look at how narrow the opening is,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and the sharp edges we have from the glass.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I'd have expected him to catch his clothing on there as well,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39and possibly transfer some fibres.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43Thomas was wearing a Harris tweed jacket, much like this one,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47and you can see that the fibres are quite prominent on it,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50they are quite loose, and in fact fibres have been transferred to the
0:26:50 > 0:26:54window even just from me pulling it through just then.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00How likely is it in your view that Thomas Rimmer climbed through that
0:27:00 > 0:27:01- broken window?- I think,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04based on the evidence that they talk about at the time,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07it's very unlikely that he climbed through that window.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12None of the forensic evidence supports the case against Burns and Devlin.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17We really need to find out more about Thomas Rimmer.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Jeremy, we still don't have any explanation as to why he would want to kill his mother.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30With the submissions to the judge looming,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33the barristers are closing in on potential new evidence.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41So Lindsay has returned to London for an update.
0:27:41 > 0:27:47Lindsay, since you and I last met Jeremy and I have been to Liverpool.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52We've looked at the evidence relating to the main prosecution witnesses
0:27:52 > 0:27:58and I have to say on that evidence alone I have not had cause to question
0:27:58 > 0:28:01the safety of the convictions.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02So actually, quite frankly,
0:28:02 > 0:28:07I don't give a stuff about what you think or the jury,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11or the people who gave evidence at that trial,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13because as far as I'm concerned
0:28:13 > 0:28:15there was a lot of lies that were told,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18there was a lot of evidence that wasn't put forward,
0:28:18 > 0:28:24and I will be relying on what Jeremy will be telling me.
0:28:24 > 0:28:30Lindsay, I just want to reassure you that in my view there is still a
0:28:30 > 0:28:31considerable way to go.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Lindsay, I do have more to tell you,
0:28:33 > 0:28:38because Jeremy and I spent some time at a reconstruction,
0:28:38 > 0:28:44and it is now clear to both of us that there is nothing scientific to
0:28:44 > 0:28:49connect Mr Devlin and Mr Burns to the killing of Alice Rimmer.
0:28:49 > 0:28:55Well, that, at least that gives me some more reason to feel
0:28:55 > 0:28:58a bit more positive.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02So, the reconstruction has revealed inconsistencies in the testimony of
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Alice Rimmer's own son, Thomas.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12And the jury was never informed he was an early suspect in the case.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19I've now seen a good deal of material, and I'm really concerned about the
0:29:19 > 0:29:22quality of the police investigation.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27After more than 30 years as a criminal defence barrister,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29my instinct is my best friend,
0:29:29 > 0:29:34and I have a hunch that the senior investigating officer behaved
0:29:34 > 0:29:39improperly and that he might well have influenced subordinate officers
0:29:39 > 0:29:46to do the same, so this is an area I feel might well be very important.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I could be wrong, but that's my instinct.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Jeremy knows if he can find something to cast doubt on the police
0:29:53 > 0:29:56investigation he might be able to persuade the judge.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Two years before Devlin and Burns were charged with murder,
0:30:03 > 0:30:09Chief Inspector Balmer led another case - the Cameo Cinema murders.
0:30:10 > 0:30:17More than 50 years later, books on this case have been published by crime writer George Skelly.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20So, George, how did you first become interested
0:30:20 > 0:30:23in the Devlin and Burns case?
0:30:23 > 0:30:28Through writing my previous book about the Cameo murder case, in which
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Bert Balmer was involved in both cases as chief investigating officer.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35So there was a common chief officer in both cases,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39and I believe that thanks, in part, to your book,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43the Cameo murder convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47- Yes.- Bert Balmer, the senior officer, was branded a liar.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Yes, in 2003 he was branded a liar.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52- By the Court of Appeal.- By the Court of Appeal.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56He was condemned for deliberate concealment of evidence
0:30:56 > 0:30:58and suborning witnesses.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Do you believe that if the jury in the Devlin and Burns case had known
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Balmer was a liar that it might have made a difference to the verdict?
0:31:05 > 0:31:09Oh, the verdict would have been not guilty.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12The two men would have been acquitted, without doubt.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13They'd have been acquitted.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18The clear victim in this case was the brutally murdered Alice Rimmer.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23But the Burns and Devlin families have also suffered,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27living with the social stigma of having an executed murderer
0:31:27 > 0:31:29in the family.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36- Hello.- Hi.- Lindsay is meeting with her brother,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39who was secretly put up for adoption by the Devlin family at the time of
0:31:39 > 0:31:41the execution.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45Mum and Dad never told any of us about Teddy or about you,
0:31:45 > 0:31:50and, I mean, they're two significant things that happened in their lives.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54Well, it was a long time ago. You know, times were different then.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Attitudes were different to unmarried mothers.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59- Yeah.- You have no real idea
0:31:59 > 0:32:04and there's no real way we can maybe find out
0:32:04 > 0:32:07what the situation was and why things happened the way they happened.
0:32:07 > 0:32:13I just can't imagine Mum even being unmarried, adopting a baby out.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17I just can't see it, and I feel sad because we've missed out on
0:32:17 > 0:32:20all those years, you know?
0:32:20 > 0:32:23When we didn't know each other.
0:32:23 > 0:32:29I never, ever imagined that I'd have five sisters and a brother.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Like 10,000 miles away on the other side of the world.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Yeah, yeah. So what's your thoughts about all this what happened with
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Teddy being hung and everything?
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Who knows what the end result is going to be?
0:32:40 > 0:32:44But I reckon what anybody is looking for
0:32:44 > 0:32:48is for the truth to come out and for there to be justice.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Yes, yes, that's exactly right.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53I believe whoever committed that murder is still out there.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01It's the night before Judgment Day and both barristers are still hunting
0:33:01 > 0:33:03for more key evidence.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09Sasha has discovered a vital document that was also never revealed to the jury.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15The police found a letter dated the 20th of July, 1951,
0:33:15 > 0:33:20so that's a month before Mrs Rimmer was killed,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24and it was a letter she wrote to her husband's pension provider,
0:33:24 > 0:33:26and it reads as follows.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31"I'm sorry to add that I cannot look for any help or sympathy from my son.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35"I have not dared tell him about this extra allowance.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40"I have given and given, but now firmly resolved not another penny.
0:33:40 > 0:33:46"Money slips like water through his hands and now he is realising what he's done.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51"I do know that if I passed out he would have a royal time of it for
0:33:51 > 0:33:57- "a few months."- Well that's just incredible because it seems to me that this letter,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00and that sentence in particular,
0:34:00 > 0:34:07provides Thomas Rimmer with a clear potential motive for killing his mother,
0:34:07 > 0:34:14and I am very concerned that this letter appears not to have been
0:34:14 > 0:34:16disclosed to the defence.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26The legal arguments have been prepared.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29And now it falls for His Honour Judge David Radford, to deliberate.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Based on his expert opinion,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36he will recommend if the case should be reviewed or not.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Finally, the day's here.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43This is what I've been waiting for.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47The evidence is going to be presented to the judge by Sasha and Jeremy.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50I can only wait to see what he has to say.
0:34:50 > 0:34:51There's no guarantee with that,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55but the one guarantee that I do have is regardless of whatever the outcome is,
0:34:55 > 0:35:01I will not stop until Teddy and Alfie's names have been cleared.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09Judge Radford has over 40 years of experience at the criminal bar.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12He's tried many murder cases and sat at the Court of Appeal.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16He'll be treating this matter as he would any other case.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25Today I shall be considering fresh material and the arguments from learned counsel
0:35:25 > 0:35:31presented to me in order for me to decide if I should recommend
0:35:31 > 0:35:36further reconsideration of this case.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41- Mr Dean.- Your Honour, my first submission
0:35:41 > 0:35:46is that the prosecution case substantially depended upon the evidence of
0:35:46 > 0:35:48fundamentally unreliable witnesses.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51George McLaughlin,
0:35:51 > 0:35:52a convicted criminal.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55He named someone else as the killer.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Second, June Berry,
0:35:57 > 0:36:0221, who claimed to have overheard the defendants talk in advance of
0:36:02 > 0:36:05robbing an old woman in Liverpool.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Unreliable witnesses, submit the defence,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11a very weak foundation for the prosecution case.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13- Miss Wass.- Your Honour,
0:36:13 > 0:36:18the jury were in the best possible position to evaluate the evidence of
0:36:18 > 0:36:22these witnesses, and by their verdicts the jury determined that they were
0:36:22 > 0:36:27telling the truth on the central issue, namely the defendants' guilt.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29Yes, Mr Dean, move to your next point.
0:36:29 > 0:36:34Your Honour, my next point is that the prosecution failed to disclose
0:36:34 > 0:36:37information about other suspects,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41in particular, Alice Rimmer's son...
0:36:42 > 0:36:46..who was the first suspect to be interviewed by police.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49The last to see his mother alive.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54His account was bizarre and unsupported by forensic evidence.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Thank you. Yes, Miss Wass.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Your Honour, I can deal with this shortly.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01All the other suspects in this case were thoroughly investigated by the
0:37:01 > 0:37:06police and found to have little connection, if any,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10with Cranborne Road on the 19th of August 1951.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14Your Honour, my final submission is my most important.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19It relies on the fact that decades after Mr Devlin and Mr Burns were
0:37:19 > 0:37:26executed, the Court of Appeal found that the senior investigating officer, Herbert Balmer,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29had lied and concealed evidence
0:37:29 > 0:37:33in another case, the Cameo cinema murders,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36which occurred shortly before this case.
0:37:38 > 0:37:45That officer, Herbert Balmer, has his footprints over both investigations.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Both, I submit, are characterised by
0:37:48 > 0:37:52the nondisclosure of important information.
0:37:52 > 0:37:58It is my submission that this new material fundamentally supports the
0:37:58 > 0:38:02proposition that the defendants were wrongly convicted and might well in
0:38:02 > 0:38:07those circumstances have been unjustly executed.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09Thank you. Miss Wass.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14Throughout the investigation Sasha has been weighing up the prosecution's case.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18But will she side with Jeremy on his final submission?
0:38:19 > 0:38:23The real question, as the Crown sees it to be,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27is had the defence in the Devlin and Burns case
0:38:27 > 0:38:31been aware of Mr Balmer's misconduct,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36and the similarities with the Cameo murder case,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39might the verdict have been different?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42And I consider that it might.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44So in all those circumstances,
0:38:44 > 0:38:50I have no option but to support Mr Dein's submissions in this regard.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53Thank you for your submissions,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57I'm going to consider them in conjunction with the written papers,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01which I have read already and will now reconsider in the light of your
0:39:01 > 0:39:06arguments, and in due course I will let you know my view.
0:39:06 > 0:39:07Thank you very much, Your Honour.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14The barristers have done all they can to convince the judge that this case should be reviewed.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20For Lindsay, it could be the start of a legal process to get an official pardon,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24or it could be the end of any hope that the convictions
0:39:24 > 0:39:25are overturned.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31It's difficult to know how that went.
0:39:31 > 0:39:37Judge has got a poker face, he keeps his judgment very close to his chest.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42Well, can I say first of all, you mustn't raise your hopes in any way,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44the result remains unpredictable.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47We just have to wait and see. OK.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Were the witnesses flawed?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Was this the real murder weapon?
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Was a key suspect overlooked?
0:39:56 > 0:40:00And was the whole investigation discredited by the leading detective?
0:40:02 > 0:40:05The judge calls Lindsay and the barristers for his final verdict.
0:40:08 > 0:40:15The long shadow of the gallows inevitably casts a baleful light over this case.
0:40:15 > 0:40:21It is true that the civilian witnesses had inconsistencies in their accounts.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25However, these were matters for the jury,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27who saw and heard them.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33I find no proper basis for reviewing the convictions on this basis alone.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38I believe the fact that Mr Balmer,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42his involvement in that Cameo cinema case,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45tainted him as an investigating officer.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51And if the extent of his being tainted had been known to the defence in
0:40:51 > 0:40:55this Devlin/Burns case at the trial, that,
0:40:55 > 0:41:00together with the disclosure of evidence that should have been made known
0:41:00 > 0:41:06to the defence at the time could have had a significant impact on the
0:41:06 > 0:41:11jury's evaluation of the evidence that was presented to them.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19After full consideration, I concur
0:41:19 > 0:41:24that there are proper grounds here for re-referring this case to the
0:41:24 > 0:41:29commission, to evaluate whether the Court of Appeal should be asked to
0:41:29 > 0:41:31consider the case again.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41- Congratulations.- Thank you, Jeremy.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Thank you, Sasha.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52If I may say so, it's absolutely the correct decision.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56Anyone who has been wrongly executed deserves justice,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58and so does Mrs Rimmer.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01And this is the beginning of, hopefully,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05getting to the end of what has been an extraordinarily difficult journey
0:42:05 > 0:42:08for, for all concerned.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Thank you. Thank you so much.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18I'm feeling happy, but I'm very overwhelmed, of course.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22It feels really good to know that the judge has seen this new evidence
0:42:22 > 0:42:25and that he is in agreement that, you know,
0:42:25 > 0:42:27there is grounds there for a review.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33And I will just now keep going until their names are cleared.