Hanged man ‘had been conscientious objector in World War 2’

THE nephew of a man hanged for murder has made new claims about the case.

David Schofield contacted the Examiner from New Zealand, claiming to have found new details about the controversial case.

Mr Schofield wrote to the paper after it carried a number of stories about his uncle, Alfred Moore.

The Kirkheaton man was hanged in 1952 for a double police murder.

But former detective Steven Lawson contacted the Examiner late last year to say that the wrong man had been executed.

Moore was suspected of being a prolific burglar.

On the night of July 14, 1951, 10 police officers surrounded his farmhouse at Cockley Hill, Kirkheaton, hoping to catch him returning home with his haul.

Two of the officers were shot while trying to arrest a man as he approached the house.

Det Insp Duncan Fraser, 45, died at the scene and Pc Gordon Jagger, 42, was rushed to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Moore was arrested at his farmhouse a few hours after the shooting, but the gun was never found.

One theory is that the killer fled, leaving Moore to take the blame.

As he lay dying in his hospital bed Pc Jagger picked Moore out from a nine-man identity parade.

Moore was hanged at Armley Prison in Leeds in 1952.

Now Mr Schofield has provided new details of his uncle’s life.

In a letter to the Examiner he said: “Alfred Moore was conscripted into the Army. He conscientiously objected to being sent overseas to kill other human beings.

“After the war he was caught as a deserter and placed in the stockade for 18 months. Unable to find honest work, he became a burglar, using stealth rather than violence.”

Mr Schofield says his uncle became involved with a leading Yorkshire criminal, whose name is known to the Examiner.

He said: “This man was a fence who had got rid of some of the items that Alfred had stolen. It’s very likely that he was making his way to Alfred’s farm on the night of the shootings.”

Mr Schofield said this man, rather than his uncle, killed the two policemen.

He asked: “How did Alfred manage to shoot two police officers and then manage to get back to his home when the police had it surrounded?

Mr Schofield also mentioned the lack of any forensic evidence against his uncle and serious legal shortcomings in the identity parade by Pc Jagger’s deathbed.

He also said his family had suffered through its association with a man executed for murder.

Mr Schofield said: “The Earl of Scarbrough started a nationwide fund which collected a huge sum of money for the dead police officers’ families.

“But Alfred’s wife and daughter had to change their names and move out of the district. They got no financial assistance.”

He added: “The police do not have to fear a great monetary payout for Alfred’s wrongful death. All I am seeking is to clear his name. His coffin should be exhumed from Wortley Cemetery in Leeds and reburied at Golcar Church.

“As I stated in a letter to the Prime Minister, a full pardon for Alfred Moore would go a long way towards unburdening his family, who have suffered this stigma which has hung over them for more than 50 years.”