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Lack of will to clear a wrongfully convicted person's name.

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  • 04-02-2024 6:43pm
    #1
    political analyst
    Registered Users Posts: 4,464 ✭✭✭


    This article is from last August.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/15/police-and-cps-had-key-dna-evidence-16-years-before-andrew-malkinson-cleared-of-rape

    In reference to the failure of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), James Burley, who was the 'Appeal' charity investigator who worked to clear Andrew Malkinson's name, said:

    “The CCRC’s internal comments show that in deciding not to commission any DNA testing, cost was at the forefront of their considerations. That decision may have saved the CCRC some money, but it came at a brutal cost for both Andy and the victim. The CCRC has been giving the false impression that a DNA breakthrough could not have been achieved by them sooner. These records show that is nonsense.”

    Surely, any forensic scientist who has a conscience would have been willing to do that DNA test regardless of the cost in terms of either money or time in order to clear the name of a wrongfully-convicted person.

    So why did the CCRC let financial cost put it off considering the likelihood (which was proven to be a fact) that Malkinson was an innocent in prison?

    It's clear that, in many cases in Britain, people in authority didn't have the will to take action to terminate the punishment of innocents, e.g. Post Office, Windrush. What is it about being in authority that causes these people to disregard ordinary innocents?



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