Episode 6 of The Overturn – Danny Major: I Was Fit-up by Colleagues, Says Jailed Police Officer
Listen to the full episode below, or via Spotify.
Former police officer Danny Major was sentenced to 15 months in jail after being found guilty of assault in 2006. He served a four month sentence, and the police officers who actually assaulted the man in their custody walked free. He has since blamed the Criminal Cases Review Commission for their ‘hugely damaging’ decade-long delay in reinvestigating his case.
Major was convicted in November 2006 at Bradford Crown Court of battery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was acquitted of a third count of assault and was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.
He first applied to the CCRC in 2007 after a failed appeal. It took the watchdog four years to reject his case. Danny Major and his family managed to persuade Greater Manchester Police to investigate what happened that night in the Leeds Bridewell. They were forced to bypass the CCRC which has statutory powers to instruct an external force to investigate allegations. but failed to use them; instead, the family persuaded their local Police and Crime Commissioner to back their campaign for justice.
In 2015 the Justice Gap exclusively reported an investigation known as Operation Lamp by Greater Manchester Police which vindicated Danny Major. This independent investigation by the neighbouring police force identified the former officer’s case as a ‘miscarriage of justice’ in 2015
It wasn’t until April 2025 that the CCRC finally referred his case back to the Court of Appeal. Danny Major said that on a first reading of the 500-page report he had received from the CCRC there was ‘little justification for any delay’. He said the ten-year wait had been ’farcical’ and ‘hugely damaging’.
‘I strongly believe the best course of action would have been for the CCRC to inform the Court of Appeal of Operation Lamp’s findings in 2015,’ Major told the Justice Gap. ‘If this had been addressed promptly, my name could have been cleared nearly a decade ago. The suspects in the case could have been dealt with and might already have been released from prison by now. The delays have all but destroyed any chance of me rebuilding my career and have taken a terrible toll on my mental health. Tragically, several family members who supported my case have not lived to see my name cleared. Moving forward, I hope the DPP will decide not to contest the appeal so this matter can be resolved swiftly.’
In this episode we hear about Danny’s long fight for justice, and how he may finally now be able to clear his name.
