In a stunning ruling that exposes profound failings within the British justice system, the Court of Appeal has quashed the murder conviction of Andrew Malkinson, a vulnerable man who spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Mr Malkinson, now 57, was found guilty in 2004 of the brutal attack and murder of a 33-year-old woman in Greater Manchester in 2003. Despite maintaining his innocence from the outset, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of seven years. He ended up serving an agonising 17 years because he consistently refused to admit to a crime he had not committed.
A Flawed Investigation and Withheld Evidence
The case against Mr Malkinson was catastrophically weak from the beginning, relying almost entirely on mistaken eyewitness identification. There was no forensic evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, linking him to the horrific crime.
Most damningly, the Court of Appeal heard that critical evidence which could have exonerated him during his trial was withheld by Greater Manchester Police. This included information pointing to another, more viable suspect who was known to police and had a history of sexual offences.
"The police knew there was another suspect," a representative for the campaign group APPEAL stated. "They chose to ignore it and instead pursued a case built on sand against an innocent man."
Two Decades of Fighting for the Truth
Mr Malkinson's release from prison in 2020 did not mark the end of his ordeal. As a convicted murderer on the sex offenders' register, he lived under severe restrictions while tirelessly fighting to clear his name.
His breakthrough came thanks to advances in DNA technology. Fresh testing, privately funded by APPEAL, finally provided scientific proof that another man's DNA was present on the victim's clothing, evidence that was devastating to the prosecution's original case.
"This is not just a victory for me, but a victory for all those who are failed by the system," Mr Malkinson said outside the Royal Courts of Justice. "I should not have had to wait 26 years for this day."
Demands for Accountability and Reform
The landmark ruling has triggered immediate calls for a full inquiry into the conduct of Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Questions are being raised about how the investigation was handled and why exculpatory evidence was never presented to the defence.
Legal experts and justice campaigners are now demanding a complete overhaul of how evidence is disclosed in criminal trials, arguing that this case is a symptom of a much wider systemic problem that risks other innocent people being convicted.
As Andrew Malkinson begins to rebuild his life, having lost over two decades to this miscarriage of justice, his case stands as a powerful and sobering reminder of the human cost when the legal system fails.
