"Let Him Have it, Chris"

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Haler did not offer in his trial evidence any estimate of the size of the bullet that had killed Miles. However, the Home Secretary (who has the power to commute the death sentence) ultimately declines to intervene.

The play, with an introduction by Miller, was included in a 1980 book Theatre in Education – Four Secondary School Programmes. While she doesn't do anything to directly corrupt Derek, he is smitten and sees the hoodlum life as a way to get access to her (or girls like her). The rest of the book covers several other celebrated cases (The Birmingham Six, Timothy Evans and Stephen Ward) and is well worth a read. It isn't clear whether he decided, inexplicably, not to take up the offer ("it was a half-hearted offer and he was obviously a busy man"), or whether, having looked at the file, he found things he didn't like so decided to ignore them. Hill's report stated that Bentley was illiterate and of low intelligence, what we would today describe as having learning difficulties.Did Derek Bentley utter those fateful words "Let him have it Chris", or did the police "verbal" him with words copied from an earlier capital case? Despite several attempts, Parliament was given no opportunity to debate the issue until the sentence had been carried out.

Despite a history of mental illness, and with the court accepting that he did not actually pull the trigger, Bentley was still sentenced to death - on the basis that his ambiguous cry of 'let him have it! After the subsequent broadcast of the BBC Play for Today adaptation of To Encourage the Others, directed by Alan Clarke and starring Charles Bolton, Haler sought to deny that he had given any specific estimate of the size of the bullet that killed Miles beyond being "of large calibre". Denise then took up a tortuous legal battle for James, and it was her astonishing strength and love for her son that ultimately helped to change the way the law treats victims of crime. There is little in the way of discussion, though a brief introduction does give a short account of the story of the crime and its aftermath.Kingswood staff reported Bentley to be "lazy, indifferent, voluble and of the 'wise guy' type", whilst a court described him as "indifferent, smug, self-satisfied and ready to tell tales". Bentley’s lawyers argued that his below-average intelligence should be considered, but diminished responsibility due to mental deficiency would not become a part of English law for another five years. Bentley was hanged for the death of PC Sidney George Miles, who was shot to death by Christopher Craig on November 2, 1952. The true story of Derek Bentley (Christopher Eccleston), hanged, aged 19, in the 1950s after a controversial decision holding him responsible for the murder of a police officer.