Found murdered at his home in Workington, Cumberland, on APRIL 7th, 1964, John Alan West was a 53-year-old bachelor who worked for a local laundry and lived by himself. He had severe head injuries and had also been stabbed in the chest. His killers had driven off in a stolen car at 3 a.m., but one of them had left his raincoat.

He might as well have given detectives his visiting card, for a medallion bearing his name was found in one of the mack’s pockets, together with the address of a girl who identified him as Gwynne Owen Evans, of Preston.

He already had a police record, as did his accomplice Peter Anthony Allen with whom he lodged. Within 48 hours they were arrested and charged with murder, the victim’s watch having been found in Evans’s pocket.

Both were convicted of capital murder, and on August 13th, 1964, they became the last men to be hanged in Britain. Evans was executed at Manchester, Allen at Liverpool.