Evans completely illiterate?
That doesn't say much for the state of the British educational system in those days.
shareHe could write his name.
shareYes,he could barely do that, but that is a pretty miserable situation for a citizen of a highly modern and industrial country in the 1950s.
shareIt wasn't that unusual in those days, particularly if (like Evans) you came from a poor, working class background - kids from that type of background would be expected to leave school at 13 or 14 and go straight into work.
A lot of people like Evans left school with little more than a basic level of literacy and numeracy. Those who couldn't even attain that were more than likely developmentally disabled (Evans had severe learning difficulties in childhood), although this kind of condition was barely diagnosed back then - such people were just seen as "slow".
It was only following the 1944 Butler Act - which established secondary modern, technical colleges and grammar schools and the controversial 11 Plus exam, and raised the minimum school leaving age to 16 - that education standards in England and Wales began to dramatically improve.
Make tea, not war. 🌈
In addition I believe that Evans missed a lot of his schooling because he had cut his foot on some glass while paddling in the river (I think it was the Taff). It turned septic (if that's the correct term) and he spent a great deal of time in hospital. He no doubt could have helped himself in that respect but he seemed to be something of an innocent with a low mental age and was probably lazy as well.
shareHe had a very low IQ which on it's own should have exempt him from the gallows even then.
shareHe probably had what we would now call learning difficulties (low IQ.) which would have little to do with his education.As we now know (as did many at the time) he was wrongly hanged, as was Roy Bentley, who it was known didn't actually kill any one! If there was ever a case for not reintroducing the death penalty in this country:- this is it!
shareWhoops! I meant Derek Bentley...Roy was a footballer!
share