Beyond Reasonable Doubt - the book that led to the pardon

Contents

BY David A Yallop
Published by Penguin 1980
Paperback, 363 pages, great clean reading copy

From the author of the international bestseller In God's Name, another riveting piece of investigative journalism published for the first time in ebook form.

On 17th June, 1970, in a small farming district, south of Auckland, New Zealand, Harvey and Jeanette Crewe were shot and killed in the lounge of their home. Five months later, a neighbour, Arthur Allan Thomas, was arrested, charged and found guilty of their murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. 

Most evidence associating Thomas with the crime was circumstantial; and after a second trial in which Thomas was again found guilty, doubts expressed by journalist Pat Booth of the Auckland Star, scientist Dr Jim Sprott, and concerned members of the public led to further investigations and petitions resulting in a referral which ultimately went, unsuccessfully, to the Privy Council. Meanwhile, Thomas remained in prison.

David Yallop, author of To Encourage the Others and The Day the Laughter Stopped, two already celebrated books which dealt with miscarriages of justice, spent over a year in New Zealand investigating the case and became convinced of Thomas' innocence. in an open letter to New Zealand's Prime Minister, he demanded Thomas' release on the grounds that he 'has not been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. He has in fact been found innocent beyond reasonable doubt.' In 1978, as a direct result of Yallop's intercession and the publication of this book, Thomas was granted a royal pardon and, in 1980, awarded nearly 1 million dollars in compensation for the nine years he had served behind bards.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt? is both a riveting work of high drama and a compelling insight into the machinery of criminal justice. A Number One bestseller in hgardcover and the subject of a widely-acclaimed film, it is a lasting testimony to David Yallop's reputation as the world's greatest investigative author.