Archive for criminal cases review commission
The Innocence Network (UK) has issued a public statement on how the criminal justice system is still failing innocent victims of wrongful conviction despite the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
In a lengthy article (well worth reading here) they draw attention to three illustrative cases
Case Studies
Neil Hurley
Neil Hurley was convicted on the 5 May 1994 of the murder of Sharon Pritchard, who was his ex-partner and the mother of two their children. The victim was found naked and bludgeoned to death on a playing field close to her home in Croeserw, South Wales. Neil Hurley was arrested and ...
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BBC have reported that a man who spent 8 years in prison for murder has won an appeal against his conviction. The man was represented by Mark Newby.
Court quashes murder conviction
Mr Lawless said he felt “strange” being out of prison after eight years
A man who has spent eight years in prison for murder has won an appeal against his conviction.
Ian Lawless, 47, was jailed for life in 2002 after confessing to the murder of retired sea captain Alf Wilkins on the Yarborough estate in Grimsby.
Judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that his conviction was unsafe after hearing fresh medical ...
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Claire Curtis Thomas has recently asked several questions about the work of the Crimiminal Cases Review Commission
Written Answers — Justice: Criminal Cases Review Commission (4 Feb 2009)
Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps the Criminal Cases Review Commission plans to take to reduce its level of case accumulation; and how the Commission will monitor the effectiveness of those steps.
Written Answers — Justice: Criminal Cases Review Commission (4 Feb 2009)
Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how the Criminal Cases Review Commission measures the (a) effectiveness, (b) efficiency and (c) economy of ...
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For further information about this conference contact Garden Court North Chambers 0161 236 1840 or
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Where does F.A.C.T. stand on abuse issues ?
As its name suggests F.A.C.T. exists to support falsely accused or wrongly convicted carers, teachers and other professionals. We are not here to apologise for those professionals who have abused children in the past, or to excuse their behaviour.
F.A.C.T. has a zero tolerance of abuse of any kind and has always condemned those who abuse or have abused children or adults. In previous conferences we have made it clear that F.A.C.T. has a duty to speak out against those who abuse children or adults. We do so on many occasions. We also fully ...
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advice and support ¦ raise awareness ¦ campaigning ¦ lobbying
F.A.C.T. has three main objectives.
to provide advice and support to those who have been falsely accused or wrongly convicted of allegations of abuse or misconduct in a work setting, and to their families.
to raise awareness of issues concerning false allegations and investigative malpractice.
to campaign and lobby on their behalf.
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If you have been falsely accused of child abuse you should always consult with a solicitor who has experience in the appropriate area of law. Depending on what stage the allegation/complaint against you has progressed you are likely to need one, or all, of the following:-
Criminal defence lawyer to deal with with any initial police interview, trial and appeal process.
Employment lawyer to deal with any employment issues arising from the allegation/complaint. This might include suspension, loss of pay or pension rights, the investigative process, disciplinary hearing, and possible dismissal.
Family lawyer to deal with any issues that might arise in relation to ...
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Cuts are taking their toil throughout the justice system. At the Criminal Cases Review Commission they are biting particularly hard. Staff there, according to Graham Zellick, the retiring chairman, are angry and dispirited. The upshot will be “melancholic challenges” for his successor, “as damaging in practice as they are demoralising in prospect”. Zellick, who steps down next week, was responding to news of £300,000 budget cuts a year for the next three years.
For the small number of defence lawyers who specialise in criminal appeals and their clients this is bad news. “The whole reason the CCRC was set up was ...
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The country’s top appeal judges are failing to correct miscarriages of justice where they suspect the jury has come to a wrong verdict, the head of the body charged with investigating wrongful convictions has warned.
Professor Graham Zellick, the outgoing chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), said the Court of Appeal should order retrials in cases that have a “lurking doubt” about the safety of the conviction.
In an interview with The Independent, Professor Zellick also called on judges to prevent “very dubious” expert evidence, including lip-reading and ear-prints, being presented to the jury. He argued: “It is far better ...
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Judges should order more retrials over unsafe convictions, says criminal review chief
The country’s top appeal judges are failing to correct miscarriages of justice where they suspect the jury has come to a wrong verdict, the head of the body charged with investigating wrongful convictions has warned.
Professor Graham Zellick, the outgoing chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), said the Court of Appeal should order retrials in cases that have a “lurking doubt” about the safety of the conviction.
In an interview with The Independent, Professor Zellick also called on judges to prevent “very dubious” expert evidence, including lip-reading and ear-prints, ...
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Home Affairs Select Committee and the work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
This submission was made in October 2006.
Memorandum to the HASC_CCRC – Upload a Document to Scribd
For a full understanding of the issues it is important to read the document above, in full, including in particular comments made by the Chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, Professor Zillick, regarding criticisms made by F.A.C.T.
The Select Committee’s report (in full) can be found here. F.A.C.T’s submission is dealt with at question 47 onwards.
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Journalism students at Strathclyde University, in Glasgow, have set up their own, local branch of an international organisation that seeks the release from prison of people who have been wrongfully convicted.
The Innocence Project was set up the USA in 1992 and the students’ decision to set up their own branch has been prompted partly by the investigative journalism opportunities afforded by possible miscarriages of justice.
They are being guided by lecturer and journalist, Eamonn O’Neill, who has been personally involved in a number of high-profile TV and writing projects concerning prisoners who are innocent.
Says O’Neill: “The Innocence Project is open to ...
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The Court of Appeal stated that it would not normally be sufficient for the police merely to caution the maker of a false allegation of serious sexual crime.The Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, so stated when allowing an appeal by David Carrington-Jones, on a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, against his conviction on December 15, 2000 at Lewes Crown Court (Judge Richard Brown and a jury) of four counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault against two sisters for which he was imprisoned for a total of ten years.Mr Jonathan Cooper, assigned by the Registrar of Criminal ...
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A man wrongly jailed when a woman cried rape has failed to prevent being charged £12,500 for his “board and lodging” while in prison.Warren Blackwell, 38, spent three years in jail as a convicted sex attacker until his ‘victim’ was unmasked as a fantasist.It was revealed he has been awarded £252,500 compensation for his lost years – but minus the estimated cost of his food and accommodation while behind bars.Mr Blackwell said he had failed to stop the money being siphoned off after his lawyer told him there was little to be done about it.The father-of-two, said: “It’s the ...
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The following article by Clare Dyer, legal editor appeared in the The Guardian on Saturday October 6, 2007The government has suppressed for more than six months an overwhelmingly hostile reaction by judges and legal experts to proposals to restrict the appeal court’s powers to quash convictions. Senior appeal court judges, the council of circuit judges, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and, in a personal response, its chairman, Graham Zellick, all lambasted the plans in unpublished responses, the Guardian has learned. Other bodies, including the Law Society, the Criminal Bar Association and the campaigning groups Justice and Liberty, have made their ...
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The year Anthony Stock was convicted for his part in a brutal robbery of a Tesco store in Leeds, Edward Heath became Prime Minister and the Prince of Wales graduated with a 2.2 from Cambridge. Since the day Stock was sent down in July 1970 he has protested his innocence.Stock confidently assumed that his name would be cleared when a supergrass confessed to his part, identifying four accomplices, in an attack that involved setting upon staff with iron bars and stealing more than £4,000. That was 1979 and Margaret Thatcher had just become Prime Minister.
Last month the case earned itself ...
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A 64-year-old man from West Sussex who served almost seven years in prison for sex crimes he did not commit has had his convictions formally quashed.
David Carrington-Jones, from Burgess Hill, had been found guilty of rape and indecent assault against two sisters.
He was released from a 10-year jail sentence in August.
At the Appeal Court on Tuesday, it was ruled fresh evidence which had emerged since his trial in 2000 showed his convictions were “demonstrably unsafe”.
His case had been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body which investigates possible miscarriages of ...
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The following article by Jon Robins appears in the Student Law section of the Times
Anthony Stock has the dubious honour of having his case referred by the CCRC to the Appeal Court for a second time.The year Anthony Stock was convicted for his part in a brutal robbery of a Tesco store in Leeds, Edward Heath became Prime Minister and the Prince of Wales graduated with a 2.2 from Cambridge. Since the day Stock was sent down in July 1970 he has protested his innocence.
Stock confidently assumed that his name would be cleared when a supergrass confessed to his part, ...
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The head of criminal justice for the judiciary in England and Wales has called for witnesses to be filmed when they testify in court. Sir Igor Judge said courts would be better placed to determine appeals if it could see what the jury had seen. He also raised concern over government plans to prevent convicted criminals winning appeals because of legal problems during the trial process. Ministers have not announced if the proposals will become law. Sir Igor was speaking at a conference for the 10th anniversary of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates suspected miscarriages of justice. When ...
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The following article by Linda MacDonald appeared in the Guardian on 29th November Linda MacDonald reviews some controversial csare home cases1989Child abuse investigations in Staffordshire, in north Wales, and in Leicestershire were marked by a new form of police inquiry: the trawling operation. Used by as many as two-thirds of the country’s police forces to convict dozens of alleged abusers, instead of starting from a crime and setting out to find the criminal, the procedure starts with the suspect – or an allegation – and then attempts to find the crime. Police forces collected allegations against 5,000 former care workers and teachers, ...
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There is a very comprehensive article in the Sunday Times (here) concerning Warren Blackwell’s succesful appeal, following the intervention of the the Criminal Cases Review Commission, against his conviction of rape.
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Peer names ‘serial liar’ whose rape claims sent an innocent man to jailWomen’s rights groups fear that legal landmark will discourage victims from coming forwardA LABOUR peer yesterday named a “serial and repeated liar” whose false allegations resulted in an innocent man being jailed for a sex attack.Lord Campbell-Savours used parliamentary privilege to name the woman during a debate in the House of Lords on rape legislation. He suggested that women who make false allegations of rape should be named and prosecuted for perjury.It is believed to be the first time that the identity of a woman who claims that ...
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The Home Affairs Select Committee have published their uncorrected transcript of their meeting with the Criminal Cases Review Commission which you can access here issues raised by FACT are dealt with from Paragraph 47 onwards
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There has been extensive coverage in the UK press of the the acquittal of Warren Blackwell who was found guilty of rape in 1999 and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Later the Court of Appeal, on an application from the Attorney General, increased his sentence to five years.
He subsequently took his his case to the to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which assigned Detective Chief Inspector Steve Glover, to investigate. He discovered that the woman:
Has made at least five other fake allegations of sexual and physical assault to police in three separate forces.
Was married twice and made false allegations against both ...
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The Criminal Cases Review Commission issued the following Press release on 14th August.COMMISSION REFERS SENTENCE FOR SEX OFFENCES OF ANDREW LAY TO THE COURT OF APPEALThe Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the sentence of Mr Andrew Lay, for a series of sexual and indecency offences, to the Court of Appeal.Mr Lay pleaded guilty to a series of sexual and indecency offences on 21 February 2003 at Guilford Crown Court. He was sentenced to a total of six years in prison with an extended licence period of five years.Mr Lay appealed against sentence in September 2003. The Court of Appeal dismissed ...
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