Oliver Campbell’s conviction has been quashed.

I've just read about this. Just shocking!

How on earth was he found guilty? His lost hat with someone else's hair in it? Left handed/right handed conflicting evidence. Brain injury at birth?

He confessed due to his panic at endless questioning.

An awful case which should have been thrown out of court.

There was even a witness who knew that Oliver was innocent because he knew the murderer, but the witness was afraid to speak out for fear of his own life.

This is why I could never vote to bring back hanging 😡

The reports of the "confession" without a solicitor present are quite shocking.
An excuse given was that they had no knowledge of his learning disabilities at the time. But he'd had brain damage as a baby.

petra

This is why I could never vote to bring back hanging 😡

Same here!

Delighted to hear this news, but so long coming, far far too long!

He was interviewed multiple times over a very short period of time, several times without legal representation or an appropriate adult present.

petra

This is why I could never vote to bring back hanging 😡

Absolutely

Rekarie

I've just read about this. Just shocking!

How on earth was he found guilty? His lost hat with someone else's hair in it? Left handed/right handed conflicting evidence. Brain injury at birth?

He confessed due to his panic at endless questioning.

An awful case which should have been thrown out of court.

Part of the evidence against Campbell was his hat, which was found at the scene and he admitted was his but had been taken off him by someone several days before the robbery.

The hat contained hairs but none of them belonged to Mr Campbell.

Sky News

The hat with someone else's hairs may not have been presented as evidence in court as, until amendments in the CJA, it was not necessary for the prosecution to share forensic evidence with the defence lawyers.
The fact that one of the robbers in the case had stated that Mr Campbell was not his accomplice was not presented to the jury.
Prison officers did not believe Mr Campbell to be capable of murdering someone.
The police breached Codes of Conduct.

it was a total stitch-up.

Another miscarriage of justice which has taken far too long to put right.
Poor man, he has been out on licence for some time and now his conviction has been quashed at last, I hope he will received compensation and can move on with his life.

I hope he receives compensation so he can enjoy his later life with no more worries.

Good thing we abolished the death penalty. Thank you, Roy Jenkins. Makes me wonder how many similar cases there are.

What a tragic life for this man due to police pressure to close a case, all those years wasted for him poor man and his family.

Yes, petra, I agree with you there.

Very much so.

People with learning disabilities receive inexcusable treatment from the justice service, the health service, etc. As an aside their vulnerability to terrible treatment by those in power is one of the reasons I cant agree with legal euthanasia.

It reminds me of the Stefan Kisko case, another terrible miscarriage of justice where evidence for the defence was deliberately ignored because it did not fit the scenario the police had decided had happened.

Sadly Stefan did not live for long after his release. I hope Mr Campbell will be able to recover and lead a long and peaceful life now.

Three decades lost, nothing can bring that back, no amount of compensation. What a terrible miscarriage of justice. And am sure he is not alone. Some still festering in prisons who were not guilty of the crime. Perhaps if they want to reduce the number of people in our prisons, all those complaining of unsafe convictions with petitions raised etc., should have their cases reopened.
And as others have said this is a bloody good reason not to bring back the death penalty.

Oliver was released on licence in 2002 but his life has been restricted and he always had the shadow of the conviction hanging over him.

I hope he finds peace.

How can anyone rebuild their life after this? I wonder if he still has any family who can help him or if he'll be another poor chap who gets lost in the system through no fault of his own.

knspol

How can anyone rebuild their life after this? I wonder if he still has any family who can help him or if he'll be another poor chap who gets lost in the system through no fault of his own.

I'm not sure about family but he has a group of friends and supporters and I'm sure they will be there for him.

He's been in limbo since being released on a life licence.

This I why I too would never vote to bring back hanging.

Which police force investigated it? Oh it was the Met. No surprises there. I bet they won't even own it. We'll get statements saying how "lessons have been learned. "

Well I would bring back the death penalty for child murderers ( I am talking about evil people like Levi Bellfield, Ian Huntley bet they aren’t sat freezing their arses off

No. You can never rule out mistakes, or corrupt police or guarantee a fair and just CPA. Surely, looking at the mess in the USA, we can learn never to go backwards.

If there’s no doubt & they admit it & gloat about it- I get what you are say about people with learning disabilities.
I think they should maybe be processed differently, I mean there has been famous cases John Evan’s? From 10 Rillington place, hung for his wife’s murder.