A man who allegedly confessed to the infamous A6 murder, for which James Hanratty was hanged, yesterday said that he might insist on taking DNA tests to prove his innocence.
Mr Peter Alphon spoke out after newspaper reports yesterday claimed that new DNA tests proved Hanratty's guilt for the 1961 crime despite three decades of campaigns to clear his name.
A spokeswoman for the new body reviewing miscarriages of justice confirmed that it had carried out DNA tests. But she denied that the tests proved that Hanratty was guilty.
According to investigators over the years, Mr Alphon has made more than one confession to being the man who killed Government scientist Michael Gregsten and shot and raped Gregsten's mistress, Valerie Storie.
She was left confined to a wheelchair after the attack at Deadman's Hill in Bedfordshire.
But an independent assessor appointed by the Home Secretary reported in 1975 that although Mr Alphon ''appears to have confessed (to the murder) on a number of occasions'', his claims were a mass of contradictions and inconsistencies.
Yesterday Mr Alphon, 67, denied he had ever confessed - and said he might demand to be DNA-tested to prove his innocence, if the current tests suggest Hanratty was innocent.
''If they say the murderer can't have been Hanratty, I may well insist that they take my DNA sample,'' he said.
''I don't want to do that, but if they tested me they would find that my DNA doesn't match either.''
Mr Alphon, who lives alone in north London, added: ''I have never confessed to the murder of anyone. I am not a criminal and I am innocent.''
Ms Louise Hall, head of information for the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said: ''We are still awaiting the results of these tests.''
She dismissed reports that the tests had established a match between genetic samples found on Valerie Storie's clothing - kept with police records of the case - and samples taken from Hanratty's relatives.
''We are very concerned about the distress that has been caused by such speculation to the people connected to the case,'' Ms Hall said.
The commission hoped to conclude its review of the case within the next ''two to three'' months.
Hanratty's brother Michael said the DNA tests did not link James Hanratty with the murder, and dismissed the suggestion that they did as ''a lot of rubbish''.
Mr Hanratty, of Forest Hill, south-east London, is due to meet the commission next week to discuss the inquiry.
Hanratty denied his guilt to the end. The day before he went to the gallows on April 4, 1962, he wrote to his family: ''I'm dying tomorrow but I'm innocent. Clear my name.''
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