I have already done a bit of digging regarding the case, but I thought I would ask you folks this question before I get all ahead of myself looking for a mystery that may not be there (hence the throw away).
Just the facts...
A murder occurred in 1945. In the online National Archive (UK), records relating to the case are classed as 'Closed or retained documents'. They also state that access is 'Closed for 75 years'. The record opening date is 2021.
Is this unusual ?
Does this happen with most murder cases. I had never heard of this case before, which is why it originally piqued my interest.
If it is unusual, I can post some more information and tell you about what I have found so far. If not well, I suppose I can feel all deflated and walk around the house having a mini huff, waiting for 6 years for them to be released.
Can't speak to the UK National archives in particular, but on the other side of the pond, yes this is a pretty normal restriction period on sensitive records. 1945 isn't that long ago, think of all the WWII veterans still alive, there could be witnesses or family members still living who would be included in these records and potentially harmed by them being rifled around in. However, "closed" is not always written in stone. Sometimes (where I work) we open records to researchers who have a good reason, like we have a patron who has select access to normally restricted student records because she is doing a dissertation on early black female students.