Out of Print
Michael John Davies, at the age of 20, was convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering John Ernest Beckley who was stabbed during a series of running fights between groups of youths on Clapham Common in London on the night of July 2, 1953.
When he was released in 1960, after serving seven years' imprisonment, Davies claimed that he was not the person who stabbed Beckley, and he declared he now knew who did. He petitioned the Home Secretary for a pardon, but was turned down in July 1961.
This is an absorbing account of a trial which has two main points of interest. Firstly, there are doubts in the minds of many who have studied the facts, as far as they are known, as to whether there is sufficient evidence to show that Davies, of the many youths involved, was the one 'to use the knife.
There is, therefore, the possibility that the wrong man was convicted. Secondly, there is the suggestion that two of the witnesses for the Crown were accomplices of Davies, and that their evidence should not have been accepted without corroboration. This was the principle ground of the appeal, and it was taken as far as the House of Lords.
Mr. Furneaux has made a thorough study of the important features and landmarks of this trial, and quotes extensively from the official transcripts. He has produced a fascinating and very readable study of a case which, on the question of accomplices at least, will probably become a leading authority.
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