Episode 15 - The Trial of Donald Neilson 'The Black Panther'

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Henry.

Donald Neilson, the so-called 'Black Panther', was tried at Oxford Crown Court in the summer of 1976. He was charged with four murders, as well as kidnapping, attempted murder, GBH, robbery and firearms offences. Prosecutors were unable to charge him with the murder of Gerald Smith because the security guard survived longer than a year and a day after Neilson shot him.

Defending Neilson, Gilbert Gray QC, contended that Lesley Whittle, the Black Panther's teenage hostage, died as the result of an accident in captivity. Nevertheless, a jury found Neilson guilty of her abduction and murder, for which he was given a life sentence. Three weeks later he was convicted of the murders of two postmasters and the husband of a postmistress.