Blog entry 14th January 2022
Just before the end of 2021, I received the Court of Appeal's judgement detailing the reasons that they rejected my application on.
- They found that the passage of time in which it has taken to submit my application was too long. This ignored factors such as evidence not coming to light until some 14 to 15 years after my conviction or that I had been let down time and again by solicitors. For example, Wells Burcombe wasted almost 10 years. This also ignores the fact that the CPS and police regularly pursue convictions against people after several decades. So much for a fair and balanced scales of justice.
- They decided that the new DNA test results which reduced the statistical match probability to just 1 in 3000 of the male Western European population held no weight. They specifically stated that of the few readings in the sample that did match my profile was enough to support a match. This ignores the fact that any of the missing readings are equally likely to exonerate me. It also ignores how influential the prosecutions statement of a 1 in a billion match at my trial would have been upon the jury. Even though it was knowingly untrue.
- No weight was given to the fact that the prosecutions own expert witness stated in his book, fours years after my trial, that he had in his possession prior to my trial, evidence that verified my alibi and, which the police and CPS stated throughout my trial, did not exist. They also claimed that the evidence Dr Barrett refers to relates to my father. It does not. Dr Barrett is exceptionally clear about this in his book.
I now understand fully why those who are wrongly convicted are so disillusioned with the appeal system and, why those of us in this position spend decades in prison for crimes we haven't committed.
The fight goes on.