The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has issued an apology to Andrew Malkinson, having spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The commission stated that it was an “unreserved apology.” In July 2023, Mr. Malkinson was cleared of all charges after DNA evidence exonerated him for the 2003 rape of a woman in Salford.
CCRC Chairwoman, Helen Pitcher, has expressed her sorrow for “failing” Mr. Malkinson, adding that there was no excuse for what had occurred. However, Malkinson criticized Pitcher for waiting until an independent review was concluded before offering an apology, saying it was “too little, too late.”
Mr. Malkinson wrote to the CCRC back in 2009, requesting that it refer his case to the Court of Appeal, which the commission rejected. Additionally, in 2012, when Malkinson requested another forensic test, the commission refused. A second application was denied again in 2020.
The rape victim, a 33-year-old mother of two, had been followed and choked to unconsciousness as she walked in Little Hulton in July 2003. Mr Malkinson was working in the area as a security guard when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime a year later. According to reports at the time, he shouted from the dock, protesting his innocence.
Although Ms. Pitcher claimed that she needed a clear understanding of the events which led to Mr. Malkinson’s wrongful imprisonment before issuing an apology, Malkinson contended that he found it difficult to believe the sincerity of this apology after all this time
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