Clive Freeman, an 83-year-old terminally ill prisoner, has spent over 38 years in jail for a murder he insists he did not commit. Now, a growing number of experts believe he may be telling the truth, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred his case to the Court of Appeal.
A Life Behind Bars
Freeman, currently incarcerated at HMP Leyhill, has been inside since 1986. His minimum tariff, set by the judge in 1989, was 15 years, yet he has served more than two and a half times that. He has no adjudications against his name in nearly four decades, and the sole reason he remains in prison is his refusal to admit guilt for a crime he says he did not commit.
“I made a promise to my late wife that I would only leave prison as an exonerated man,” Freeman said. “She was a wonderful woman.”
The Case and Its Flaws
The conviction rests on a theory of murder called “burking,” a Victorian asphyxiation technique. However, the original pathologist had written in his notes that Hardie likely died of natural causes, including acute pancreatitis and chronic alcoholism, before changing his finding nine days later. Those notes only surfaced in 2012, and since then, eight independent pathologists have concluded the burking finding should not have survived cross-examination.
Freeman, a former Zimbabwean soldier, was convicted in 1989 after a jury deliberated for under an hour. His behavior—leaving on a false passport, a packed bag, and refusing to answer questions—was presented as evidence of guilt. But Freeman had been declared an enemy of the Zimbabwean state, and his actions were survival tactics learned from that experience.
A Referral and a Race Against Time
Last August, after six attempts spanning 25 years, the CCRC referred the case to the Court of Appeal, citing a “real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld.” The hearing is unlikely before the end of the year, and Freeman does not believe he will live to see it.
Freeman remains in prison, and the difference between his 15-year tariff and 38 years served is explained entirely by his refusal to admit guilt. The case has been the subject of a podcast, “The Whole Truth? The Case of Clive Freeman,” by Dani Carpanen and Edward Abel Smith.
