The following three men were failed by the U.K. Judicial System when they got it tragically wrong.Only those who suffer an injustice can realise it's intensity,and these three innocent men suffered immensely after being accused and convicted for a crime they did not commit .
1) Stefan Kiszko
On 5 October 1975 , in West Yorkshire, England, the body of 11-year-old British girl, Lesley Molseed was found dumped on moors. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death 12 times
Stefan Kiszko ,who lived near Molseed in Greater Manchester was an intellectually disabled man ,and suffered from minor behaviour problems caused by a condition called XYY syndrome - an ailment that causes growth abnormalities , and developmental conditions that affect communication and social interaction. Stefan was viewed as a social misfit because he spent all of his time with his mother. He had a hobby of writing down car registration numbers which in part led to his wrongful conviction, as he had unwittingly jotted down the registration number of a car seen near the scene of the crime
In December 1975, police arrested and charged Stefan with the murder of Lesley Molseed. He had no solicitor present when being questioned by the police .The questioning was a brutal and relentless three-day interrogation of this vulnerable man,who had the mental and emotional age of a 12-year-old. Stefan, a gentle man who had never been in trouble before was frightened and confused when he confessed to the murder of Lesley Molseed .He ultimately confessed after being told he could go home to his mother if he did so. He later withdrew his confession and said police had bullied him into a confession. In July 1976 , Stefan was found guilty of Lesley's murder and was jailed for life.
Stefan's mother remained steadfast , and campaigned tirelessly for his release. After 16 years his lawyer managed to get the case reopened. With advances in forensics and new evidence being examined, it was proved beyond doubt that Stefan could NOT have been the murderer,because he was a sufferer of hypogonadism - meaning he could never produce the sperm heads that were found in the ejaculate on Lesley's clothing.
After spending 16 torturous years in prison for a murder he did not commit , Stefan's conviction was overturned . He was finally released in 1992, but the ordeal of prison had taken its toll. Stefan had been mercilessly attacked several times by other inmates, and the years of incarceration had physically and mentally destroyed him.
In December 1993 , a year after his release at the age of just 41, Stefan died of a massive heart attack. Sadly, six months later his mother, who had fought so hard to get him home, also passed away.
In 2007 , the real Killer of Lesley Molseed was jailed for life. DNA evidence conclusively proved that Ronald Castree ,a taxi driver , had been the true perpetrator of the horrific murder and sexual assault of 11 year old Lesley Molseed,but for 16 years Stefan Kiszko was punished for Castree 's crime ,while he walked around a free man
2) Stephen Downing
On 12 September 1973, Wendy Sewell, a 32-year-old legal secretary was found badly beaten but still alive in Bakewell Cemetery , in Derbyshire, England. She had been sexually assaulted, and beaten around the head with the handle of a pickaxe. Sadly, she died two days later from her injuries.
Bakewell cemetery groundskeeper Stephen Downing, age 17 at the time had found Wendy lying on the ground. As he tried to wake her, blood transferred onto his clothes. He soon became the prime suspect for her murder. After being arrested, he was questioned for nine hours without a solicitor present ,despite having learning difficulties and a reading age of 11 . Officers pressured him into signing a confession filled with words he did not understand. At one point officers started shaking him to wake him up .He was never informed by police that he was under arrest or in custody , and was not told of his right to consult a solicitor
Downing's trial took place in February 1974, where he pleaded not guilty,but a jury found him guilty of the murder of Wendy Sewell . The judge sentenced him be detained indefinitely. He was convicted mainly on the basis of his confession,and a forensic scientist's evidence who explained that the blood found on Dowling could only have been present if he had been responsible for the attack .
In 2002, following several appeals ,and campaigns by a local newspaper, the court finally overturned Dowling's conviction - finding it to be unsafe.
A retired police officer reported Derbyshire police to the Home Office over claims they withheld evidence in the Dowling case. The original pathology report showed Wendy had clear signs of being strangled. The report showed bruising on her neck consistent with a "knotted ligature" used to garrotte her, and a rash in her lungs and airways, possibly caused by strangulation.The pathology report directly conflicted with the evidence the police presented, and this information was available within two or three days of Downing being arrested. These facts were never made known to the jury,and this evidence in the report could have exonerated Stephen Downing.
A modern forensic examination of the weapon, crucially revealed Downing's fingerprints were not present - although there was a bloody palm print from an unknown person.
Stephen Downing spent 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He did receive compensation of £750,000 ,but despite being financially compensated he has lost 27 years of his freedom,which money can never buy him back.
Stephen gave a statement to the press saying, " I don't really have much of life, yes I am free... but I am still paying for a crime I didn't commit".
Wendy Sewell's murderer has never be caught ,although recent investigations have linked the Yorkshire Ripper , Peter Sutcliffe to the killing.
3) Michael Shirley
Linda Cook a 24-year-old barmaid, from Portsmouth ,England, was raped and murdered in December 1986.She'd been so badly beaten that her jaw and spine were broken, and her larynx crushed by the heel of the killer, who stamped on her body so hard that he left an imprint of the logo from the sole of his shoes on her abdomen
Michael Shirley , an 18-year-old who served in the Royal Navy,was serving aboard HMS Apollo, which was docked in Portsmouth at the time of the murder. The night of the murder Shirley was chatting up women in a nightclub. He was about a quarter-of-a-mile from the murder scene.
The police were on the hunt for the type of shoe that left an imprint on Linda cook's body–250 pairs of which had been sold in Portsmouth that year alone –It was these shoes that lead police to Shirley as he owned a pair
Although Shirley had an alibi it did not dissuade police from arresting him. The police said the blood on his clothing and scratches on his face had been made by Linda during the struggle. His blood type also matched the murderer .
The case was based only on circumstantial evidence , and the the prosecution produced no forensic evidence against Shirley. However, in January 1988 , a jury believed the prosecution case and found Shirley guilty of the rape and murder of Linda Cook . He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
After serving 16 years in prison Shirley's conviction was eventually quashed in 2003 by the Court of Appeal, after the DNA profile extracted from semen samples recovered from the victim's body was proven not to be his. Shirley’s DNA profile coincided with only one thin band on the DNA read-out. He shared that characteristic with one in three members of the population. The other bands pointed to someone else.
It later emerged that the blood was his and the cuts were old.His lawyers also unearthed a taxi log showing he was elsewhere ,with another woman , at the time of the murder which confirmed his alibi ,but this was not available to the original jury.The log showed he couldn't have been in the area at the time of the murder.
New evidence pointing to a rapist convicted of killing another woman more than 35 years ago has been linked to the unsolved murder of Linda Cook
Michael Shirley made a statement to the press saying ,“It’s like crying in the dark when there’s nobody there to hear you. You just sit there, knowing you are innocent, asking why people don’t believe you
These tragic cases show how there is sometimes more than one victim in a murder case
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