 Files in the case of Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit, show the DNA of another man was identified just three years after he was wrongly convicted. Mr Malkinson, 57, was found guilty in 2004 of raping a woman in Greater Manchester and given a life sentence with a minimum term of seven years. He served a further 10 because he maintained his innocence. Documents obtained as he battled to be freed revealed police and prosecutors knew forensic tests in 2007 had produced a hit for another man's profile on the victim's vest. But they decided to take no further action and there is no record of them informing the miscarriage of justice watchdog, The Guardian reports. The CPS said Mr Malkinson's lawyers were told. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) refused to order further forensic testing or refer the case for appeal in 2012, with the case files reportedly suggesting it was worried about costs. The match was discovered on a 'crime specific' area of the victim's clothing in 2007 as part of a nationwide forensic review of evidence in historical murder and rape cases. During the attack, she suffered a serious bite wound to her left nipple, meaning any saliva found on the vest above her breast would be considered 'crime specific' by the CPS. Notes of a meeting between the Forensic Science Service, the CPS and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in December 2009 suggests prosecutors understood the gravity of the 2007 DNA find, according to the report. CPS guidance states it 'must write to the CCRC at the earliest opportunity about any case in which there is doubt about the safety of the conviction'. An internal log of Mr Malkinson's first application to the CCRC in 2009 – in a bid to appeal against his conviction – reportedly reveals CCRC highlighted the cost of further testing and said it would be unlikely to lead to his conviction being quashed){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Files in the case of Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit, show the DNA of another man was identified just three years after he was wrongly convicted.
Mr Malkinson, 57, was found guilty in 2004 of raping a woman in Greater Manchester and given a life sentence with a minimum term of seven years. He served a further 10 because he maintained his innocence.
Documents obtained as he battled to be freed revealed police and prosecutors knew forensic tests in 2007 had produced a hit for another man’s profile on the victim’s vest.
But they decided to take no further action and there is no record of them informing the miscarriage of justice watchdog, The Guardian reports. The CPS said Mr Malkinson’s lawyers were told.