Other prisoners could be freed by case review - Malkinson

Andrew Malkinson says he says he knows "at least half a dozen people" currently in prison who he believes could be exonerated if their cases were reviewed.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Malkinson - who served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit - described the failures in the process for reviewing potential miscarriages of justice as a "human rights atrocity".

His comments come following the publication of an independent review that found he was completely failed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - a key agency reviewing his case.

The review's lead, Chris Henley KC, has called for a "trawl" of similar cases.

He told Radio 4's Today programme that it would be "far too complacent" to say that what had happened to Mr Malkinson was an "outlying aberration".

“There must be other cases where there are fresh opportunities for retesting DNA samples and that should be undertaken as a matter of urgency," Mr Henley said.

The damning report into how Mr Malkinson's case was handled, which was published on Thursday, concluded he could have been freed five years after receiving a life sentence for a 2003 rape.

It revealed the CCRC's investigators and leaders failed to follow up evidence of innocence right up to 2022.

“It’s absolutely shocking what Chris Henley has uncovered," Mr Malkinson said on Friday.

"It’s vast incompetence at the very least….and I don’t know what it’s like at worst", he told Today.

"It seems they [the CCRC] devote all their time and resources to finding ‘clever me’ arguments about why they shouldn’t refer, rather than looking at the police files and really investigating."

The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she would seek the sacking of the CCRC's chair, Helen Pitcher, saying she was "unable to fulfil her duties".

Ms Pitcher has apologised in a statement accompanying the report, saying that it made "sobering reading" and that it was clear from Mr Henley's findings "that the Commission failed Mr Malkinson".

“For this, I am deeply sorry and wish to offer my sincere regret and an unreserved apology on behalf of the Commission," the statement continues.

“Mr Henley's report includes nine recommendations, and the Commission has already begun work to implement them."

Mr Malkinson has said the apology came "far, far too late".

After his exoneration in July 2023, BBC News sought an interview with Ms Pitcher but the CCRC said she couldn’t speak publicly until after this report had been published.

"It seems to me very strongly that this is the most reluctant apology, when all avenues have been explored for her [Ms Pitcher] to seek a positive outcome," said Mr Malkinson.

“The fact that they left me languishing in jail with careless abandon, it’s infuriating – deeply, profoundly infuriating.”