This Day in True Crime — January 28, 1953 Derek Bentley Executed in One of Britain’s Most Infamous Miscarriages of Justice On January 28, 1953, 19-year-old Derek Bentley was executed by hanging at Wandsworth Prison in London after being convicted of murdering a police officer — despite never firing the fatal shot. Bentley and a younger accomplice, Christopher Craig, were involved in a burglary when police arrived. Craig fired the gun that killed Officer Sidney Miles, but Bentley was convicted un