The Bishop of Stepney has called on the government to intervene in the case of Jason Moore highlighting the miscarriage of justice’s watchdog‘s ‘historical‘ shortcomings’. In an exchange with justice minister Shabana Mahmood, Dr Joanne Grenfell has written to say that as a result of new evidence ‘combined with the Criminal Cases Review Commission‘s (CCRC) past failures’ it was ‘imperative’ that immediate action was taken.
As reported last year, relatives of Robert Darby, who was stabbed to death in a pub car park in East London, joined with campaigners supporting the release of Jason Moore convicted of his killing. In a new letter shared with the Justice Gap, Reverend Grenfell acknowledged the CCRC’s independence but argued that it’s ‘historical shortcomings’ cast ‘serious doubt on its ability to review Jason’s case impartially and effectively’. ‘Indeed, this is a fact that your government is well aware of, as shown by recent calls for [CCRC chair] Helen Pitcher to step down. Yet despite public acknowledgement of the institution’s numerous failings, such as the case of Andrew Malkinson, the government continues to refer people to the CCRC, stating its independence. Yet if the institution has repeatedly failed to fulfil its mandate, at what point does the government intervene to assist the many individuals who have suffered as a result?’
- The case of Jason Moore featured in the latest issue of PROOF magazine in a long read article by the journalist Charles Thomson who has been investigating the case for Newsquest
- Photo: Charles Thomson
As previously reported on the Justice Gap, Rev Grenfell argued that in the CCRC’s rejection letter, the watchdog ‘falsely asserted’ that two eyewitnesses had implicated Jason Moore as Darby’s stabber (see here). In fact, there was only one witness with, she claims, ‘significant credibility problems’. Based on this ‘fundamental misunderstanding’, she argued the CCRC refused to order fresh DNA testing and refused to interview the witness who had picked Jason from a line-up.
As recounted in PROOF, Newsquest journalist Charles Thomson tracked the witness down who admitted on tape that he had been drunk when he had witnessed the stabbing and might have picked the wrong man. After the rejection of Moore‘s first application to the commission, Thomson promptly contacted the watchdog to point out the mistake in their assessment of the case. ‘Despite the seriousness of this mistake, the CCRC did not take the initiative to reopen the case. As an independent body that exists to safeguard against wrongful convictions, the CCRC should have been eager to correct their own mistake. In refusing to act, the CCRC has compounded the problem and is now actively adding to the miscarriage of justice. This refusal was especially damaging because the CCRC initial error directly caused evidence that was vital and supporting Jason‘s first application to be unusable in his current application’.
The Bishop goes on to say that Thomson subsequently obtained exculpatory evidence from the key witness which was offered to the CPS, the police and Jason Moore’s lawyers ‘but neither the CPS nor the police showed any interest whatsoever in reviewing it’.
The Reverend closed her new lettter by saying she felt ‘little consolation’ at the Justice Secretary’s previous correspondence suggesting that the matter needed to be left to the commission. ‘Time after time, it is not the efforts of the CCRC but the intervention of outside actors that finally brings about justice, such as the assistance of APPEAL to Andrew Malkinson or the advocacy of former MP Sandy Martin for Oliver Campbell.’
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