Justice secretary Alex Chalk today announced an independent inquiry into the handling of the case of Andrew Malkinson, who was last month released from prison after serving 17 years for a rape he did not commit.

The probe will examine why the process took as long as it did, examining the roles played by Greater Manchester police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. It will be chaired by a 'senior legal figure'; and terms of reference will be published in due course.

Chalk said: ‘Andrew Malkinson suffered an atrocious miscarriage of justice and he deserves thorough and honest answers as to how and why it took so long to uncover. The core function of our justice system is to convict the guilty and ensure the innocent walk free. Yet a man spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit while a rapist remained on the loose. It is essential that lessons are learned in full.’

Malkinson commented: ‘I welcome this independent inquiry because I want full answers and accountability from all those who played a role in the injustice I suffered. I hope the Chair will adopt a scientific approach to get to the full truth behind why the justice system was in denial for so long. I spent over 17 years wrongly imprisoned and so I hope that my lawyers and I will be given the opportunity to feed into the inquiry’s terms of reference.’

Emily Bolton

Bolton: 'Catastrophic injustice'

He added: 'I had to take the police to court twice to force them to hand over evidence. The CCRC has so far refused to apologise and take accountability. So naturally I am concerned that witnesses from these agencies may not co-operate and hand over all the evidence. If there is any obstruction by the agencies involved, then the inquiry needs to be made statutory so that they can be compelled to hand over evidence.

'I want to see serious, profound changes in our justice system coming out of this. My case shows that the police cannot be trusted to investigate impartially or act as faithful gatekeepers to the evidence. It also shows that the CCRC, which could have spared me years of life behind bars, is not fit for purpose.’

Emily Bolton, founder of APPEAL and Malkinson’s solicitor, said: 'It is absolutely right that there is an independent inquiry into Andy’s avoidable wrongful conviction and how this catastrophic injustice persisted for two decades. The police, prosecution, courts and CCRC all failed disastrously in this case. Their actions must be scrutinised in the same way investigators interrogate black box data after a plane crash.

'Andy must be at the heart of any inquiry including having a voice in setting its terms of reference. If the agencies involved refuse to act with full transparency and candour, then the inquiry must be put on a statutory footing. Andy is all too conscious of the delays caused by the police’s failure to disclose documents to the Daniel Morgan Inquiry, which was non-statutory.

'To avoid future catastrophes in our justice system, this inquiry must not shy away from calling for bold reforms.’

James Burley, the APPEAL investigator who uncovered evidence leading to the quashing of Malkinson’s conviction, said: 'Serious change needs to come out of this inquiry, including giving those seeking to prove their innocence a right of access to police files and an effective means of challenging shoddy decisions by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.’

The new probe means there are now four inquiries under way relating to the Malkinson case. The others are Chris Henley KC’s review of three CCRC investigations into Malkinson's rape conviction; an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation of Greater Manchester Police; and an independent Law Commission review into how the wider appeals process – including the CCRC – is operating, to ensure it is working effectively. All parties have pledged their cooperation with the inquiry announced today. 

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