Andrew Malkinson says fight to reform miscarriage of justice cases far from over
'It's a good feeling that something so dreadful and tragic is leading to real change'
A man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit has said his fight to reform the legal system's handling of miscarriages of justice is far from over.
In 2004, Andrew Malkinson, now 59, was falsely convicted by a jury at Manchester Crown Court of raping a woman in Little Hulton, Salford, and sentenced to life a minimum term of seven years.
But in 2023, after years of protesting his innocence, the conviction was quashed. Chances to free him were repeatedly missed, leading to one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK legal history. Two of his applications in 2009 and 2020 were rejected, before fresh DNA tests were commissioned that eventually led to his release.
It later emerged that he could have been freed a decade earlier if the similarities between his case and another wrongful conviction had been spotted and acted upon.
Mr Malkinson's latest comments come after a committee of MPs said the head of a legal body who was heavily criticised for its handling of the case should not continue in the top job.
Mr Malkinson, who told The Sunday Times his “life was desolated” by the wrongful conviction, says he is determined to change the justice system, starting with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
“I haven’t finished. I want to change a lot more,” he said. “It’s a good feeling that something so dreadful and tragic is leading to real change.”
It comes amid news Dame Vera Baird KC will become the interim chairwoman of the CCRC.
The barrister will take up the post from June 9 until December 8 next year, and is tasked with carrying out an urgent review into the running of the independent body and making sure lessons have been learnt from previous cases.
Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE
Mr Malkinson said he remained “incandescent” at the CCRC, as well as the Government’s compensation scheme, which makes it difficult for wrongly-convicted people to receive payouts.
“This is an assault on innocent people,” he said.
“It’s an assault on the public, because any member of the public could end up where I was. Anybody could be the next victim, because there will be more.”
Despite having his conviction quashed in 2023, he had to wait until February to get his first compensation payment. Mr Malkinson had been living on benefits and food banks from his release until then.
Under the 2014 Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, payments are only awarded to people who can prove innocence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ministry of Justice data showed that only 6.5% of people who had applied for compensation due to a miscarriage of justice between April 2016 and March 2024 were awarded payouts. Of 591 people who applied, 39 were granted compensation. Figures showed that 35 have since received money, with average amounts totalling £68,000.
In a statement in February, lawyer Toby Wilton welcomed the payment, but said the £1 million cap on compensation payouts should be lifted. This is currently the maximum amount that can be paid to victims of miscarriages of justice who are wrongly jailed for at least 10 years.
"The Government should lift the current cap on compensation, and end the twisted quirk that whilst awards under other compensation schemes are excluded from assessment for benefits,” he said.