Michael Stone, serving three life sentences for the 1996 murders of Lin and Megan Russell, has had his case reopened by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The move comes after two previous applications were rejected, and just three months after the CCRC had closed the file. Stone has always maintained his innocence.
Stone's barrister, Mark McDonald, said the CCRC indicated it would carry out further scientific testing, possibly using Y-STR DNA analysis not available at the time of the conviction. 'There is forensic material that we know is not Stone's, that was never really identified,' McDonald said. The CCRC refers only 3% of cases it reviews back to the Court of Appeal.
The case dates back to July 1996 in Chillenden, Kent. Lin Russell, 45, and her daughters Megan, six, and Josie, nine, were attacked with a hammer while walking home. Lin and Megan died; Josie survived with severe brain injuries. A witness described a white man in his 20s driving a beige car. A bloody fingermark and a bootlace were found at the scene.
Stone was first convicted in 1998, but that verdict was quashed in 2001 after a prosecution witness admitted lying. He was retried and convicted again later that year. Two subsequent appeals failed. McDonald said the CCRC's decision is not cause for celebration, but rather a return to the start. Stone has exhausted his legal options, and a judicial review was being considered.
