Oliver Campbell’s conviction has been quashed.

very pro.

I used to ve Pro the death penalty, but now very much against.
I have heard some people over the years say they want it bought back for the killing of children, and others saying for the murder of Police Officers. All murder of innocents is abhorrent, but so is legalised killing.
Look at the USA where some states use the death penalty, has it made a difference to the murder rate? One thing I do know you have far more chance of being executed if you are black and poor.

Mt61

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

Using that criteria Stefan Kisko would have been hanged.

Forensic evidence which would have cleared him was not available to the defence and not presented in court.

He was innocent.

petra

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

Same here.

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.

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.

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

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. "

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Very much so.

Yes, petra, I agree with you there.

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.

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

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

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.

petra

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

Absolutely

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 😡

Same here!

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

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.