The Murder in the Graveyard: A Brutal Murder. A Wrongful Conviction. A 27-Year Fight for Justice.

Written by:
Don Hale
Narrated by:
Don Hale

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
2
Narrator
1
Release Date
June 2019
Duration
8 hours 50 minutes
Summary
A gripping true crime investigation into the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.



In September 1973, Stephen Downing was convicted and indefinitely sentenced for the murder of Wendy Sewell, a young legal secretary in the town of Bakewell in the Peak District. Wendy was attacked in broad daylight in Bakewell Cemetery. Stephen Downing, the 17-year-old groundskeeper with learning difficulties and a reading age of 11, was the primary suspect. He was immediately arrested, questioned for nine hours, without a solicitor present, and pressured into signing a confession full of words he did not understand.


21 years later, local newspaper editor Don Hale was thrust into the case. Determined to take it to appeal, as he investigated the details, he found himself inextricably linked to the narrative. He faced obstacles at every turn, and suffered several attempts on his life. All of this merely strengthened his resolve: why should anyone threaten him if Downing had committed the crime?


In 2002, Stephen Downing was finally acquitted, having served 27 years in prison.


Immerse yourself in this masterful account of Hale’s long, dedicated and often dangerous campaign to rescue a long-forgotten victim of the British legal system; the longest miscarriage of justice in British history.



‘An Extraordinary story of innocence and persecution, determination and grit … it had me rattling through the pages’ SOPHIE DRAPER
Reviews
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Diane B.

I enjoyed listening to the book. It sounds like some of the things that happen in the U. S. I think the author would have been better served if he had not read the book himself. A professional would have done the book more justice. In addition, the author went into what seemed like day to day detail and there was a lot of repetition. The same thing seemed to happen over and over and we still heard all the detail of each event. Perhaps it would have been better if he had summarized some of it. I know he was angry, frustrated, afraid and just couldn't believe the duplicity and stupidity of the police and others. I could hear it. I couldn't either. It just got a little tedious listening. It seems like honest people who work for and with the police would correct a clearly obvious miscarriage of justice done by those who wanted the case closed fast. Who knows who did the murder and perhaps the police themselves had something to gain by closing it. It sure seems that way. Some people will do anything for any reason and are either evil or amoral. We just don't expect to see it from men in authority, but we do more and more.

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