Court footage, courtesy: Court of Appeal.
Appeal court judges have quashed the rape conviction of a man who spent 17 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.
Andy Malkinson, 57, always denied carrying out the violent attack on a woman by the M61 motorway in Little Hulton, Salford, in July 2003. The following year he was jailed for life with a minimum term of seven years, but remained in prison for a further 10 because he maintained he was innocent. At the time of his trial, there was no DNA evidence linking him to the crime and the prosecution case against him was based solely on identification evidence.
His case was referred to the Court of Appeal in January by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, after new DNA evidence was discovered. This afternoon three top judges sitting at the Court of Appeal quashed his rape conviction.
The news was greeted with cheers at the Court of Appeal in London. Mr Malkinson raised his hands raised his hands aloft to acknowledge the cheers moments after he had been cleared.
Mr Malkinson was 37 when he was found guilty on February 10, 2004, by a 10-2 majority of carrying out a violent sex attack on a mum-of-two by the M61 motorway in Little Hulton, Salford.
Earlier Edward Henry KC, representing Mr Malkinson, told the court: "In more than one sense this is an historic case being an historic injustice. The respondent... joins with us in submitting that DNA testing which Mr Malkinson has called for since his arrest some 20 years ago now supports his long-standing protestations of innocence. Also this DNA testing, that fresh review, points to a credible suspect who could not be the appellant."
Mr Henry also criticised 'deplorable disclosure failures which must lie at the door of Greater Manchester Police, grave repeated disclosure failures' at the original trial which he said 'wholly undermined the prospect of a fair trial guaranteed under article 6' of the Human Rights Act.
The rape victim 'believed she had identified the right man' but this was 'not supported' by other evidence aside from the evidence of two eye-witnesses who were presented at the trial as independent but were not, said Mr Henry.
The KC said 'no trace of any forensic matter has ever linked the appellant to these appalling crimes whereas now there's testing that points to a credible, viable alternative suspect'.
Continue reading at Manchester Evening News:
Man who spent 17 years behind bars for rape he DIDN'T commit finally has conviction quashed
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