Man who spent 17 years in jail after being wrongly convicted of rape ‘could have been freed almost a DECADE earlier’
AN innocent man who spent 17 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit could have been freed almost a DECADE earlier, a damning report has found.
Andrew Malkinson, 57, was locked up after being convicted of raping a woman in Greater Manchester in 2003.
He spent years protesting his innocence and was finally cleared last year when his conviction was quashed.
A scathing report has now found Malkinson could have been exonerated almost a decade earlier.
Malkinson and legal charity Appeal applied for his case to be reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2009.
But the CCRC sat on crucial DNA evidence which had been available since 2007.
The commission concluded its review in 2012, refusing to order more forensic testing or refer the case for appeal because of costs.
A second appeal was rejected by the commission in 2020 before Malkinson was cleared last year.
Malkinson said: "The CCRC obstructed my fight for justice and cost me an extra decade wrongly imprisoned."
He called for a complete overhaul of the body and for its chairwoman Helen Pitcher to be sacked.
Last year cops arrested a new suspect on suspicion of the July 2003 rape following the discovery of the new DNA evidence in the case.
The 48-year-old man from Exeter has been released under investigation.
Greater Manchester Police said a file has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration.
Chris Henley KC's review laid bare a string of "serious" failings and missed chances to correct the miscarriage of justice as early as 2009.
He revealed the body had even considered rejecting requests for a referral to the Court of Appeal for a third time.
Presenting the review today, Henley said: "The CCRC failed Mr Malkinson.
"It required Appeal to obtain the new DNA evidence that ultimately resulted in the further work that led to the referral by the CCRC.
"It would not have happened otherwise. The opportunity to have this case referred in 2009 was missed.
"A further opportunity to look again at the DNA evidence when the second application was received in 2018 was not taken."
"I have seen nothing to persuade me that the CCRC would have independently considered that retesting was justified or had any prospect of producing anything new which might call into question the safety of the conviction."
Malkinson's legal team previously discovered striking similarities between his ordeal and the earlier CCRC case of Victor Nealon.
Nealon's 1997 conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in December 2013 after new DNA evidence was unearthed.
Nealon's case "undoubtedly bore similarities to Mr Malkinson's case", Henley said.
He added: "In my view Mr Malkinson's conviction would have been quashed almost 10 years earlier than it was, if the Nealon judgment had been properly understood and followed."
Mr Malkinson said: "This report lays bare how the CCRC obstructed my fight for justice and cost me an extra decade wrongly imprisoned.
"In 2022 the CCRC was considering rejecting my case for a third time, despite the compelling DNA evidence presented by my legal team.
"That finding shows that the body is biased through and through. It needs to be torn down and completely rebuilt.
"If Helen Pitcher and her leadership team won't resign after a scathing report like this, they should be sacked."
Appeal's James Burley said the CCRC was a "broken safety net" - branding the report "utterly damning".
Burley said: "The new Justice Secretary should bring in a fresh leadership team at the CCRC that is serious about rooting out wrongful convictions."
Ms Pitcher offered Mr Malkinson an "unreserved apology" in April when she received the findings of the review.
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In response to the report, the CCRC said it accepted the recommendations and work to address them was already underway.
A separate inquiry ordered by the previous Government into Mr Malkinson's case is ongoing.