Press Release: Christopher Eccleston reprises role as victim of British justice on anniversary of Derek Bentley's hanging
Christopher Eccleston, who played Derek Bentley in the film, Let Him Have It, has reprised his role as a victim of British justice in a video released today – the anniversary of Bentley’s hanging – by law charity APPEAL.
In the campaign clip, which seeks to raise awareness of miscarriages of justice and the need for reform, Eccleston plays a wrongfully convicted prisoner facing a similar plight today.
APPEAL, together with other representatives of victims of British justice, will also lay wreaths at Bentley’s grave today.
Bentley was just 19 when he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of PC Sidney Miles and sentenced to death. The title of the 1991 film refers to the ambiguous words allegedly spoken by Bentley to the man said to have fired the fatal shot, Christopher Craig. Craig was 16 at the time of the crime so could not be sentenced to death. Bentley, who gave himself up to police without any violence, was hanged on 28th January 1953. His family fought to clear his name for decades, and in 1998, his conviction was finally posthumously quashed.
Christopher Eccleston said: “My career was built on Derek’s scaffold. It was an honour to play Derek in Let Him Have It back then, and doing this campaign clip for APPEAL felt like a natural extension of that. The system did not listen to Derek then and it is still not listening to people like him today.”
APPEAL founder Emily Bolton added: “The anniversary of the hanging of Derek Bentley reminds us that wrongful convictions are inevitable, and that when they occur, we do not have unlimited time to set them right. At APPEAL, the prisoners we represent have only one life, and that life has been stolen from them by a criminal justice system that is in denial about its mistakes. The Court of Appeal needs to treat these cases as emergencies, so that there are no more ‘Victims of British Justice’, as Derek Bentley is described on his gravestone.”
Notes to editors
1. APPEAL is a law charity that fights miscarriages of justice and demands reform of our justice system. www.appeal.org.uk
2. APPEAL's Open Justice Charter details our calls for increased transparency in the court system and can be read here: http://appeal.org.uk/open-justice
3. APPEAL and other representatives of victims of miscarriages of justice in this country will be laying wreaths on Derek Bentley's grave at 12:00 on 28th January 2020. Photographs of this will be available for press shortly afterwards.
4. APPEAL's campaign video featuring Christopher Eccleston can be found at www.appeal.org.uk/our-work. Credits should be given as follows:
Production Agency: Uncle Sunshine
Director: Steve Qua
Producer: Dolly Course
Director of Photography: Martin Testar
Sound design: Iain Grant
Post production: Time Based Arts
5. Director, Emily Bolton is available for interview.
For further information please contact:
Abigail Wheatcroft at Abigail@appeal.org.uk or call 020 3559 6378