- R v Betts and Ridley
"R v Betts and Ridley" is a landmark case in
English criminal law from 1930, which established that to be convicted of a crime, it was not necessary for an accessary to actually be present when the offence was carried out. [cite web|url= http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article4179652.ece|title= The cases that changed Britain: 1917-1954|publisher=Times Online |date= 23 June 2008|accessdate= 2008-08-27]The case
Victor Betts and Herbert Ridley agreed to rob a man, William Thomas Andrews, as he was on his way to the bank. Their plan was that Betts would push the individual to the ground and snatch his bag. Meanwhile Ridley would be waiting around the corner in a getaway car. However, Betts struck Andrews with such force that he died. Both were subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to death. An appeal against the murder conviction by Ridley later failed, but his death sentence was commuted. Betts was hanged at
Birmingham Prison on 3 January 1931 byThomas Pierrepoint . [cite web|url= http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/hanged1.html|title= English & Welsh executions 1900 - 1931]References
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