The chair of the Criminal Review Cases Commission has unreservedly apologised to Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, after a KC-led review found the commission failed him. This afternoon, lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood said she has begun the process to remove Helen Pitcher as the commission's chair.

Malkinson’s first two applications for the CCRC to use its statutory powers to refer his case back to the Court of Appeal were refused. The third application resulted in a referral to the Court of Appeal in January 2023. Six months later, his conviction was quashed.

The CCRC commissioned Chris Henley KC to review the organisation’s handling of the case. Henley’s 130-page report was published today.

On the first application, Henley said there was a ‘complete failure to get to grips with’ the potential significance of new DNA evidence. On the second application, which charity APPEAL submitted on behalf of Malkinson, Henley said it was disappointing that the CCRC did not set up a meeting to understand what APPEAL was proposing to do in relation to fresh DNA testing.

In a statement, Henley said: ‘Mr Malkinson spent many years in prison fighting this appalling miscarriage of justice. In 2009 he turned to the CCRC but they failed him. Lessons must be learned. It is almost impossible to believe that this is the only case that has not been handled properly. The CCRC must make every possible effort to identify other applications where mistakes might have been made, and immediately implement the recommendations made in my report.’

CCRC chair Helen Pitcher said: ‘Mr Henley’s report makes sobering reading, and it is clear from his findings that the commission failed Mr Malkinson. For this, I am deeply sorry and wish to offer my sincere regret and an unreserved apology on behalf of the commission. I want to assure everyone of our commitment to learn from this. Mr Henley's report includes nine recommendations, and the commission has already begun work to implement them.'

Henley's findings have prompted calls for the CCRC to be overhauled.

James Burley, who led APPEAL's investigation into the Malkinson case, said: 'No one can doubt now that the CCRC is a broken safety net which sets the bar unreasonably high for innocent prisoners trying to clear their names. The CCRC must be completely overhauled.'

Hickman & Rose solicitor Toby Wilton, who is representing Malkinson in a public inquiry on his wrongful conviction, said: 'It is vital that the CCRC is held to account for its shocking failures in this case and completely overhauled.'

Mahmood said this afternoon: 'It was sobering to read Chris Henley KC’s findings. My thoughts are with both Andrew Malkinson and the victim of this horrific crime. Having studied Chris Henley’s report closely, it is my firm view that Helen Pitcher is unfit to fulfil her duties as chair of the CCRC. I have therefore begun the process to seek her removal from that position.'

According to the Guardian, Pitcher has rejected calls to resign.

 

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