London - England's Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that the body of James Hanratty, who was hanged in 1962 for murder, could be exhumed to obtain DNA evidence for a review of his conviction 38 years ago. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, told the court it would be "desirable" for Hanratty to be exhumed "in the interests of justice".
Crown prosecution lawyers had applied for permission to exhume Hanratty's remains after his family won the right to appeal against his conviction for the murder of Michael Gregsten and the rape and attempted murder of Gregsten's mistress, Valerie Storie, in 1961.
