Rodney Peterson Hallworth (3 June 1929 – 15 June 1985) was a British crime

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

. He was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

and died in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

, Devon, England.

Career

Journalism

Hallworth worked as a crime reporter for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. He reported on many cases but most famously on that of suspected

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1956. Hallworth was very close to the main investigating officer, Herbert Hannam, and twice during the investigation he himself was investigated: once for being discovered with a memorandum alleging a homosexual link between Adams, a local magistrate ( Sir Roland Gwynne) and a local policeman; and a second time for leaking information to two Members of Parliament that the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Reginald Manningham-Buller Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, (1 August 1905 – 7 September 1980), known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative po ...

had handed a confidential police report to the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(who were organising Adams' defence). Both times Hallworth was given a dressing-down but no more. Hallworth later co-wrote a book about the case, published in 1983 after Adams' death. In it he accused the prosecuting counsel of mismanaging the case, saying that Adams, who was acquitted, was in fact a murderer. Later Hallworth joined the rival ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', hoping to replace

Percy Hoskins Percy Kellick Hoskins (28 December 1904 – 5 February 1989) was the chief crime reporter for the British newspaper the ''Daily Express'' in the 1950s. He also provided stories for radio and television crime shows, such as Whitehall 1212 (radio s ...

as head crime reporter.Victor Davis, British Journalism Review However, Hoskins carried on in his position and Hallworth was left to "wither on the vine".

Publicity

Hallworth eventually left the ''Daily Express'' to become a publicist, representing amongst others, ill-fated yachtsman Donald Crowhurst in 1968–69. Crowhurst disappeared during a round-the-world yacht race and Hallworth flew to the

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to collect his boat's logbooks, which he then sold to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper. Hallworth's part in the affair brought him a lot of criticism, leading to his being called "unscrupulous". According to others who knew him, however, Hallworth was a "genial, rotund chap" who was "larger than life".

Books

*''The Last Flowers On Earth'', Angley Book Co., Maidstone 1966. *Co-written with Mark Williams; ''Where there's a will... The sensational life of Dr John Bodkin Adams'', Capstan Press, Jersey, 1983.

Articles

Hallworth's article, "The Murdered City", appeared in the April 1966 issue of '' Devon Life'' magazine. "The heart of Exeter is dead," he wrote, and then proceeded to criticize severely the postwar rebuilding of the city. Hallworth praised the as-yet-unfinished

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

(founded in 1955).

References

Sources

*Cullen, Pamela V., ''A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams'', London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallworth, Rodney 1929 births 1985 deaths British male journalists People from Stockport British crime journalists