The chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission has resigned, telling the lord chancellor she feels she was made a ‘scapegoat’ over the handling of the Andrew Malkinson case.
Lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood began the process for removing Helen Pitcher from her post after a KC-led review found the CCRC failed Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Yesterday, it emerged that Pitcher had resigned with immediate effect.
Legal commentator and Gazette columnist Joshua Rozenberg, who interviewed Pitcher for his A Lawyer Writes podcast, posted the resignation letter on his website.
In her letter, Pitcher said: ‘I do feel I have been scapegoated for entirely legitimate operational decisions that were not handled by any non-executive CCRC chair before I joined the organisation. The original rejection of Mr Malkinson’s appeal was almost a decade before my tme: on my watch, armed with new DNA evidence which we commissioned, we were able to resolve the situation, and set Mr Malkinson free.’
A CCRC spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the clarity given by Mrs Pitcher’s decision and look forward to working with the interim chair to continue the important task of finding, investigating and referring to the appeal courts, possible miscarriages of justice.’
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said: ‘The lord chancellor established an independent panel to consider Helen Pitcher’s role as chair of the CCRC. We welcome her resignation. Given the importance of the CCRC’s work, we will appoint an interim chair as quickly as possible who will be tasked with conducting a full and thorough review of how the organisation operates.’
Pitcher suggested in her resignation letter that the ministry will struggle to find her successor.
She said in her letter: ‘Whilst wishing the organisation well I worry it may prove extremely difficult to find a new chair prepared to take on this important role on the understanding that, like me, they will be held personally responsible for historical failures over which they will have had no say.’
Pitcher told Rozenberg she intends to complete the remaining year of her appointment as chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission.
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