High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! James Hanratty (4 October 1936, Bromley, Kent – 4 April 1962, Bedford Prison, Bedford), a petty criminal with no history of violence, was the eighth-to-last person in the United Kingdom to be hanged after being convicted of the murder of Michael Gregsten at Deadman`s Hill on the A6, near the village of Clophill,Bedfordshire, England, on 23 August 1961. Gregsten`s mistress Valerie Storie was raped and shot in the same incident; she survived but was left paralysed. Charges on these additional crimes were kept in reserve. Hanratty`s guilt has long been disputed.