Ray Gilbert, who served 36 years in prison for the 1981 murder of betting shop manager John Suffield Jnr, believes DNA swabs from the rope used to tie up the victim will clear his name. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has confirmed that swabs from the rope remain available for testing, along with other forensic evidence that has never been examined.
Mr Suffield, 23, was opening the Joe Coral betting shop on Lodge Lane in Toxteth on March 13, 1981 when he was ambushed, tied up and repeatedly stabbed in what appeared to be a botched robbery. Mr Gilbert, who was 22 at the time, confessed to the murder and also implicated his co-accused John Kamara. He later retracted the confession but changed his plea to guilty halfway through the trial in an attempt to exonerate Mr Kamara. Both men were imprisoned for murder; Mr Kamara was acquitted by the Court of Appeal after 19 years.
New evidence discovered
Mr Gilbert remained in prison until 2016, unable to appeal because of his insistence of innocence. No forensic evidence, such as bloodstains or fibre transfers, has ever placed him at the scene. The main obstacle has been his confession, which he claims was made under duress and without a lawyer or appropriate adult, given his status as a vulnerable person.
Last year, a team supporting Mr Gilbert submitted a new case review report to the CCRC. In August, the CCRC confirmed that files and forensic evidence that had never been tested had been preserved. The Forensic Archive located six case files, four packets of "dry material" and one box of "dry material" – which could include dried biological stains, flakes of blood, or scrapings from under Mr Suffield's fingernails. This week, the CCRC told Mr Gilbert and his legal team that swabs from the rope used to bind Mr Suffield had been found.
Hope for DNA testing
Mr Gilbert told the ECHO: "The CCRC has confirmed that a box of evidence exists containing items that could potentially be suitable for DNA testing. I have also been told that swabs were taken from the rope used to tie up John Suffield and these swabs remain available for testing. I believe these could offer significant potential for successful DNA analysis, although the outcome will depend on the condition of the samples and what the testing reveals. I have spent years fighting to clear my name, and I hope modern forensic techniques can finally provide answers that were unavailable when the case was investigated in 1981."
A spokesperson for the CCRC said: "A review into this application is ongoing. It would be inappropriate for us to discuss the case or make any further comment while the application is being reviewed."
Mr Gilbert added: "The potential DNA testing represents an important opportunity to establish whether surviving evidence can shed new light on this case. While no outcome is guaranteed, I hope scientific advances can uncover answers that have remained elusive for decades. For me, this is about more than clearing my own name. It is about justice for John Suffield, answers for his family and ensuring that no opportunity to uncover the truth is missed simply because 45 years have passed."
Parallels with other miscarriages
Mr Gilbert hopes his case will follow those of Andrew Malkinson, wrongly convicted of rape, and Peter Sullivan, whose murder and rape conviction in Birkenhead was one of the UK's most significant miscarriages of justice. Both were exonerated after DNA testing proved the samples belonged to other people.
Mr Gilbert has also questioned why earlier action was not taken. He said the CCRC retained material in 2008 which, if tested then, could have proved his innocence and saved him eight extra years in prison. The handling of Mr Malkinson's case was criticised because Operation Cube, a nationwide initiative, found a DNA sample from an unknown man in 2007, but the CCRC did not order further testing until 2023. In 2024, the CCRC confirmed that people convicted of murder or rape whose applications were turned down could have their cases reopened for new DNA testing, identifying almost 5,500 such people convicted before 2016.
Speaking to the ECHO earlier this year, Mr Gilbert said: "The Andrew Malkinson case has lit a fire under the CCRC and many old cases where people are protesting their innocence should be re-examined. Mine fits this bill of injustice."
Case review claims
Stephanie Davies, a former senior coroner's officer turned independent death investigator who supports Mr Gilbert's case, told the ECHO: "If any identified DNA profiles do not belong to either the victim or Mr Gilbert this would therefore support Mr Gilbert's innocence and raise reasonable doubt about his involvement in this murder."
Mr Gilbert's case review file to the CCRC claims the death scene was misinterpreted by police, there were signs of crime scene staging that were missed, the suspect pool was narrowed to those with a history of theft, and the CCRC may have missed earlier chances for a thorough forensic review. Mr Gilbert said previously: "I'm innocent of murder, I will keep shouting that. I just want the opportunity to prove it. That will happen when the CCRC examines the case. I hope they act on the evidence and give me and the victim's family justice. When you know you have not done it you will fight. I will fight to my last breath."
