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Eventually, in 1993 the then Home Secretary Michael Howard granted Bentley a partial pardon, saying it was clear he should never have been hanged but he remained guilty of taking part in the murder.

Iris Bentley (Dereks mother) died in 1997 before the case was referred back to the Appeal Court.

In 1998 the Appeal Court quashed Bentley's conviction on the grounds the original trial judge was biased against the defendants and misdirected the jury on points of law.

Scientific evidence also showed the three police officers who testified about Bentley shouting "Let him have it" had lied under oath.

Craig served 10 years before being released.

A shocking portrayal of the use of the Death Penalty in the United Kingdom during the 1950's. A mentally unstable young man with epilepsy called Derek Bentley faces the gallows for a crime he did not commit, While the accomplice, Christopher Craig, who did fire the fatal shot, only serves time at Her Majesties Pleasure. In reality Christopher Craig only served 10 years while Derek Bentley had his life taken away. A gritty drama telling of Bentley and Craig's criminal exploits in South London shortly after the war.

I did not know about this case before I watched this film, but the synopsis on the back of the video case was so compelling I had to rent it. I did not expect to be emotionally involved but it was hard to keep from shouting at the TV screen that it's unfair. The system portrayed seemed almost hellbent on sending Derek to the gallows, guilty or not. Even when evidence seem tainted or appeared to cast doubts on the veracity of some of the testimonies, the only cry ringing out was that a cop was killed and someone's blood must be spilled in revenge. It is chilling to know that sometimes justice can be blinded when emotions are involved, showing how important it must be to fully understand the implications before imposing any penalties which cannot be reversed even if desired.

In the 50's, in the post-war London, Derek Bentley (Christopher Eccleston) is a mentally retarded teenager with mentality of a child. He lives with his family and spends most of his time inside his room, with his cats, dogs and a turtle. When he buys a compact vinyl in a store with his sister, he befriends the delinquent teenager Chris Craig (Paul Reynolds), whose older brother is a notorious thief, and dresses like American gangsters. This friendship leads Derek to one of the most famous cases of unfair trial of the England history.

"Let Him Have It" is a 1991 film based on a true story of a mentally deficient nineteen-year-old teenager that was sentenced to the gallows in 1953 for a crime that he did not commit. The film shows manipulation of the testimonies, a strange behavior of the judge that gives directions to the jury and disregards the request of merci from the jury. The performances are top-notch, highlighting Christopher Eccleston, but this film is very unpleasant. In Brazil, "Let Him Have It" was released o VHS only and it was worthy watched it again after so many years. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Segredo de Uma Sentença" ("The Secreto of One Sentence")

This movie is one of the saddest pictures ever made. Made even more sad by the fact that this is based on a true story. I couldn't believe this was Christopher Eccleston's 2nd movie; I hadn't seen him in anything before JUDE. I'm utterly speechless to talk about this movie. I noticed someone commented saying this is like DEAD MAN WALKING; that movie does not compare to this. Bare in mind that LET HIM HAVE IT WAS MADE 4 years before DMW. I felt this one was much, much, much more rendering and mournful. God bless you Brits for making films on social content with such potency; American audiences could take a lesson from you: SCUM, LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER, ALFIE, ...if, TRAINSPOTTING (best movie ever made)

This was a nice surprise to watch. It's an intelligent telling of the Derek Bentley murder case. There are some excellent performances - in fact I can't think of any bad ones at all - and the story is told with compassion and respect. The ending is a bit of a tearjerker particularly as it happened in real life.

I rented this movie with not very high expectations, but I was extremely surprised. It was a truly great movie with good acting. I recommend this movie to anybody who liked "Dead Man Walking" or any other crime/drama movie. This movie was great!

Set mostly in the post-War 1950's "Let Him Have It" tells the true & tragic story of Derek Bentley, a young man with mental health issues & epilepsy, who falls in with Chris Craig & the wrong gang. Craigs elder brother is a hoodlem & Craig is clearly just a boy who wants to play "gangster" who during a botched robery shoots dead a police officer. The title of the movie is based on what Bentley said to Craig during the heist, yet did Bentley say "Let him have it" meaning to give up his gun, or an order to shoot?

Chris Ecclestone is utterly spine tingling as Bentley & his character is very well developed in the sense that he is something of a gentle giant, who has unfortunatly been hardened by being sent to approved school. However he has the support of his loving sister & their closeness is very touching as they play records & go shopping together. The screenplay is steady & weaves the story at a good pace, with an excellent script that was based on court transcripts from the case. & during the time of this films original run, brought back to the public attention of the gross injustice Bentley suffered which eventually lead to the banning of execution in Britain, & his full pardon.

This movie is very well made & beautifully acted, making it both compelling, yet heartbreaking to watch. It is also testament to horrific injustice suffered by a young man who had the mind of a child who had been lead along the wrong path. Simply put, this is Derek Bentleys story... May God rest your soul, sir x

Thrilling, emotional and so superbly performed by the members of the cast this is without doubt one of the best takes on a real life scenario of all time.

This true story is one I hadn't really thought about much until I came across this film. But it is so fabulously constructed and the director Peter Madak tells this tale in such a pure and harrowing way that I found myself immediately on Google to research more on Derek Bentley (the main character) and some background information on the piece.

Bentley is performed by Christopher Eccleston in one of the star's first films. The British actor is very, very impressive as the unfortunate teenager who mixed with the wrong people at the wrong time. Equally on top form was Paul Reynolds as the disturbed Chris Craig and in fairness its an impossibility to fault any cast member on their displays in this exceptional work.

In mu honest opinion, I would probably choose to watch a number of other films than this - some with no where near the same level of ability - because the genre isn't always my favourite. I probably will not watch this film again and again because it isn't that type of film. But its one of the biggest surprises in recent memory as far as I'm concerned on a movie front.

It's utterly brilliant!

"Let him have it" often shown on A & E here in the US as "Let him have it, Chris" is an excellent polemic that doesn't lose sight of balance in its preaching against the death penalty. For a film written by an American, there is a nearly English even hand in the account.

We start with a cute boy dazed in the blitz of 1940s London. A little dim witted, he takes the rap (American Jive: catches the case) for some local hooligans and ends up remanded to juvy where he comes of age.

There's a glimmer of Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) from Angels with Dirty Faces in Derek Bentley (Christopher Eccleston) but unlike Rocky Sullivan who's a nihilist by choice, poor Derek is a bit too simple to understand.

The path might have led to rehabilitation but for the bad environment. In an ambiguous situation, miscalculation leads to the unforgivable and now Derek Bentley faces the gallows.

The story might have drifted into a self-indulgent, tear-jerking, liberal sensitivity philippic except that the film kept its objectivity on the central issue.

Oh there is the usual liberal hue and cry: the police lied to juice up their case (as they usually do), the lawyers poor people get are incompetent (a wide range of abilities might be more charitable), justice even Her Majesty can be a little cold to cop killers, the wrong people get off easy on loopholes etc.

However the authors, surprising for the American writer, kept an English sense of fairness on the critical question.

Did Derek Bentley rightly go to the gallows for what he done? See the film. Comparable Films: Hoodlum Priest

The case of Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig is perhaps one of the most famous miscarriages of justice in the UK. 'Let Him Have It', directed by Peter Medak tells the whole story in full, right up to the terrible death of Bentley. The film is predominantly set in the year 1952. Derek Bentley, aged nineteen, has had a difficult life from the beginning. The film begins by telling us a little about Derek's early life. We see that he suffers from learning difficulties and epilepsy, and often falls prey to temptation, getting into crime and gangs. He is caught, and spends most of his teenage years in an approved school. The film then jumps forward a further four years, and we finally meet the main Derek, aged nineteen, played by Christopher Eccleston. He soon meets Christopher Craig, and joins him as a friend. Throughout the first half of the film, we follow Bentley as he is drawn into a life of petty crime. This leads up to the grand climax of the film, the famous break-in which eventually turned into a murder scene. What follows, is a long and emotional journey through the weeks after Bentley is sentenced to death. As part of the English GCSE syllabus, we have been watching this film as part of our media review project. I can't say I enjoyed it - it has a very depressing and upsetting plot line - but it was a very well made and interesting portrayal of the story.

A better argument against the death penalty you will not see. A shameful episode in the recent history of Great Britain. Anyone who wants the return of the death penalty in this country should take the time to watch this film.

Some of the acting performances in this film are truly immense. The film-makers do a great job in recreating the dark gloomy streets of 1950's London. Having watched this film it is hard to see why the two young actors in the lead roles never went on to star in many more motion pictures. To summarise there are no real weaknesses in the telling of this tragic tale, I Would recommend this film to all who want to watch a powerful emotional story.

This is a very convincing film of the life of Derek Bentley and his eventual execution. 1950s Britain is just beginning to emerge from the years of post-War austerity with all of the milk bars, pop records and teddy boy youth culture showing a new, malign confidence. The undercurrent is definitely youth crime gone wild. But is Derek Bentley really one of the gang?

Christopher Eccleston is absolutely brilliant playing Bentley, and truly captures the inner torment and diffidence of a young man suffering from years of epilepsy and failure at school. Bentley is clearly not normal and probably more impressionable than most people of his age – this is the essence of this tragic story. He wants to be like everyone else but stupidly chooses the wrong people – or do they choose him?

You are never sure whether Bentley's friend Chris Craig (the brilliant Paul Reynolds) is a nasty piece of work or maybe someone else led astray, this time by his truly monstrous, menacing older brother Niven Craig (Mark McGann) who he sees receiving 10 years for armed resistance to police arrest. Who is Craig - is he Pinkie in Brighton Rock (Boulting 1947), Jimmy Hanley in the Blue Lamp (Dearden, 1950) or one of the famous five with a gun?

After his brother's trial, Chris lies down at night and then – rather poignantly and in a nice little flourish from director Peter Medak – lays down his handgun on his bedside table, finding a gap amongst his toy cars, trams and aeroplanes. Perhaps he's just a naïve little kid after all.

When the gang goes to the cinema what else would they watch but a Jimmy Cagney gangster movie? Maybe if they'd watched the Blue Lamp instead they would have been warned off.

Anyway, Bentley clearly did not murder the policeman on the rooftop - that was Craig (some say it was a policeman's bullet gone astray). Bentley was executed for a crime he did not commit, pure and simple.

Good, haunting musical score by Michael Kamen.

I can't say with honesty that I 'enjoyed' this film exactly, because it's not a 'bundle of laughs', but it did blow me away and really set my mind wandering. It's a difficult subject matter and would be easy to over-play, but it's handled very well and is well worth watching. If anyone is in favour of the 'death-penalty for pointless or inexcusable acts of murder' , this films is for you.

Christopher Eccleston is wonderful and raw in it and gives a very vulnerable and yet gritty performance without camping it up at all. Also the lady who plays his Mum is wonderful (sorry, can't remember the actresses name).

Convincing performances and a reasonably unbiased approach to the facts make this an intense and compelling true life film. Neither Derek Bentley or Christopher Craig are portrayed as being all good or all bad. Derek is vulnerable and just wants to fit in with the 'gang' but goes about it in all the wrong ways and Chris whilst being the more hardened of the two still cries over his brothers imprisonment.

Whatever your views on the death penalty this film will make you stop and think. Its supporters will be forced to see the issue in a new light and those who campaigned for its abolition will have their views reaffirmed.This is not an easy film to watch but it is well worth it and the conclusion will stay with you for a very long time.

Every era think's it's living through a crime wave, a fact here attested to by the posters adverting 'White Heat' seen in one scene.

This is definitely one recreation of the fifties that isn't suffused with a warm nostalgic glow - although the familiar faces of Tom Courtney, Murray Melvin and Michael Gough create an old-fashioned ambience (the first two had actually been around long enough to have played juvenile delinquents themselves) - since along with the case of Timothy Evans, the Craig & Bentley affair (which came after Jack Warner had already got it in the gut from zoot-suited wideboy Dirk Bogarde in 'The Blue Lamp') presented the most decisive case against capital punished since you can never unhang someone whose taken the nine o'clock walk.

My mother was born the same year as Christopher Craig, vividly remembered this case and was herself of the belief that Derek Bentley's words (which actually comprises the title of this film, complete with punctuation marks) was telling Craig to pull the trigger but Bentley's hanging was still a plain case of judicial murder.

This just wasn't right. A 16 year old is given a 10 year sentence for shooting and fatally wounding a police officer while his friend who was IN POLICE CUSTODY at the time of the shooting gets death by hanging. All because he was 19 at the time and shouted "let him have it." First, there is no malice aforethought to justify murder. He did not want the police officer to be killed; in fact after the officer was killed he told his friend to give up the gun and surrender. At MOST he could be faced with an involuntary manslaughter charge with up to 10 years in prison (maybe not in 1952 Europe). This film was shocking. I urge anyone who has any interest in the law to watch this film. It was amazing well done and kept to the point that the law is the law even when it is wrong.