Britain's Court of Appeal dismissed a bid to clear...

Britain's Court of Appeal dismissed a bid to clear the name of James Hanratty, one of the last men hanged in Britain, saying 40 years after his execution that DNA evidence had proven his guilt.
Denying an appeal by family members and campaigners to clear Hanratty's name, the country's top judge ruled that DNA evidence taken from the hanged man's exhumed remains in 2001 was "certain proof of James Hanratty's guilt".Lord Chief Justice Woolf also said that, while the DNA was enough to convict, there was ample corroborative evidence, including the discovery of bullets in a room where Hanratty stayed before the crime that became known as the "A6 Murder".
"The court concludes that this number of alleged coincidences means they are not coincidences but provide overwhelming proof of the safety of the convictions from an evidential perspective," Lord Woolf said.Hanratty was convicted in 1962 for the attack, named after the roadway near where it took place, in which scientist Michael Gregsten was shot and killed, and his mistress, Valerie Storie, raped, shot and left paralysed for life.
Doubts about Hanratty's conviction arose soon after his execution and played a significant role in Britain's abolition of the death penalty three years later. Hanratty, a petty criminal who had spent most of his adult life in and out of prison, protested his innocence until his hanging, and urged his family to clear his name.
His brother Michael said the ruling was a bitter blow and vowed to continue the fight to clear his brother's name.
"I waited 40 years to get here thinking I would get justice only to have it thrown up in my face," he told reporters outside the court. The Crown Prosecution Service, which defended the appeal, said the evidence against Hanratty was overwhelming.
"The 21st century court had the advantage of considering DNA evidence which was unknown to the 1962 jury," a spokesman said.
"With the advances in science, it meant that an analysis of DNA material belonging to Hanratty showed a match to that found on a handkerchief and underwear owned by Miss Valerie Storie."Detective Inspector Stewart Trail of the Metropolitan Police, who led the re-examination of evidence, said he hoped the ruling would draw a line under the case and praised Storie.
"For the last 40 years she has maintained a dignified silence and has never wavered in her conviction that James Hanratty was guilty. I know that today's result will mean a great deal to her."