catsmate
No longer the 1
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2007
- Messages
- 32,971
Sullivan was convicted in 1987, aged 30, of the murder of a 21 year old Diane Sindall, a florist who's van had broken down.
His case is the UK’s longest running miscarriage of justice case with a surviving victim.
Ms. Sindall was sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death.
Sullivan has always protested his innocence and lawyers have tried twice before to get his conviction overturned. But the Criminal Cases Review Commission had previously refused to authorise new genetic tests. Now the tests have revealed that Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.
The Court of Appleal quashed the conviction this morning with Lord Justice Holroyde (sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan) stating they had “no doubt that it is both necessary and expedient in the interests of justice” to accept the new DNA evidence, and “In the light of that evidence, it is impossible to regard the appellant’s conviction as safe.”
James Burley, who led the investigation by the charity Appeal into the case of Andrew Malkinson said:
Peter Sullivan’s exoneration today after nearly four decades of wrongful imprisonment provides further evidence that our current appeals system cannot be trusted to swiftly identify and rectify miscarriages of justice.
Between them, Peter Sullivan, Andrew Malkinson and Victor Nealon spent over 70 years wrongly imprisoned before finally being exonerated by compelling DNA evidence.
Each had their cases previously rejected by both the court of ppeal and the CCRC – the institutions which are meant to act as our justice system’s safety net. The case for an urgent overhaul of the appeals system is now overwhelming.
His case is the UK’s longest running miscarriage of justice case with a surviving victim.
Ms. Sindall was sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death.
Sullivan has always protested his innocence and lawyers have tried twice before to get his conviction overturned. But the Criminal Cases Review Commission had previously refused to authorise new genetic tests. Now the tests have revealed that Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.
The Court of Appleal quashed the conviction this morning with Lord Justice Holroyde (sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan) stating they had “no doubt that it is both necessary and expedient in the interests of justice” to accept the new DNA evidence, and “In the light of that evidence, it is impossible to regard the appellant’s conviction as safe.”
James Burley, who led the investigation by the charity Appeal into the case of Andrew Malkinson said:
Peter Sullivan’s exoneration today after nearly four decades of wrongful imprisonment provides further evidence that our current appeals system cannot be trusted to swiftly identify and rectify miscarriages of justice.
Between them, Peter Sullivan, Andrew Malkinson and Victor Nealon spent over 70 years wrongly imprisoned before finally being exonerated by compelling DNA evidence.
Each had their cases previously rejected by both the court of ppeal and the CCRC – the institutions which are meant to act as our justice system’s safety net. The case for an urgent overhaul of the appeals system is now overwhelming.
