About this item
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.
About the Author
Don Hale is an award winning investigative journalist and author. Three times he has taken the Journalist of the Year title, and he was awarded an OBE in 2002 for outstanding campaign journalism. He has written about seven other true crime, crime novels, and major books, and three have become best sellers, with two used for films - including a BBC two-part TV drama for Town Without Pity - which attracted over 9m audience and starred Stephen Tompkinson and Caroline Katz amongst others. His other book Mallard - How the Blue Streak Broke the world record - was used for a TV documentary on the Discovery Channel in June 2011 for National Geographic. And his other major works, The Final Dive, about the James Bond inspiration - Buster Crabb - became another roaring success.Don was the real life Derbyshire journalist who campaigned tirelessly for the release of a man wrongly jailed for murder yet spent 27 year plus behind bars. Town Without Pity documented his campaign and revealed vital evidence that helped to clear Stephen Downing, and considers who was potentially responsible for the brutal 1973 murder of Wendy Sewell in a Bakewell cemetery. It became known by the media as the 'Bakewell Tart, murder. The book was later used as the basis for this dramatic two-part TV edition which was re-named 'In Denial of Murder,' which was Don's preferred title for the book. The film was later distributed around the world by BBC World Service. Since this case, Do has helped investigate and celebrate the releases of three other high profile prisoners - jailed for murders or serious crimes that they did not commit - including that of Barry George - now cleared of the killing of TV star Jill Dando.Town Without Pity and his first ever crime thriller - THE WRONG BODY - are now available on Amazon Kindle to download. This is the very first time that Town Without Pity has been made available since its initial launch in 2002 and makes for a true crime genuine roller-coaster ride from start to finish.
