The Inglorious Twelfth: Mary Hackett Case Halifax 1953 true crime child murder

The Inglorious Twelfth: The Story of the Mary Hackett Case (Halifax 1953)
Circumstantial Evidence or a Case of Reasonable Doubt

by Patrick Robertshaw

Pub. 2005

First edition

Softback

viii, 206 pages, illustrated

On 12th August 1952, 6 year old Mary Hackett disappeared whilst playing outside her home in Lister Lane, Halifax. A search was conducted, and 6 weeks later, her body was discovered in a space between the foundations and the floor at Park Congregational Church, only 150 yards from her home. Her fully-clothed body was lying face downwards, and she had suffered multiple skull fractures. 

Albert George Hall, the caretaker at Park Congregational Church, was arrested for the murder. During the 4-day trial in March 1954, he admitted that he suffered blackouts, and that he had had a breakdown in December 1952. He was a voluntary patient in a mental institution, and had a history of mental problems, including a fascination with little girls. He continually protested his innocence and claimed that he had never set eyes on Mary Hackett. An appeal was dismissed and he was hanged at Armley Jail on 22nd April 1954.

In 1972, a man walked into Hull police station and confessed to Mary's murder. Scotland Yard looked into the matter but upheld Hall's conviction

In this book, The Inglorious Twelfth, judge Patrick Edward Robertshaw claims that vital evidence – which might have put Hall in the clear and ultimately spared his life – was held back from his lawyers and the jury. In researching the book, Judge Robertshaw interviewed barristers, a former policeman, friends of the Hall family and others involved in the case, and he also gained access to case papers and transcripts of the proceedings, some of which have been made public for the first time.

Good condition.