Andy Malkinson has criticised an apology from the head of the miscarriage of justice watchdog as ‘too little too late’. Malkinson was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years for a rape he did not commit and had his conviction overturned nine months ago. The failures of the head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to adequately re-examine his case led to him being imprisoned for seven years longer than he should have been and yet the watchdog until yesterday refused to acknowledge responsibility. (Illustration by Isobel Williams from PROOF #6.)
On Tuesday a video message by Andrew Malkinson was played to a packed meeting of MPs, campaigners and journalists at the launch of the Justice Gap’s PROOF magazine. You can buy PROOF here.
Malkinson has said in response to a statement from the head of the CCRC, Helen Pitcher, that her delay in apologising to him has ‘added significantly to the mental turmoil’ he is experiencing. The apology comes in the wake of a report into the CCRC’s handling of the Malkinson case, completed by Chris Henley KC. The head of the watchdog, which is meant to rectify miscarriages of justices like Malkinson’s, said the report made for ‘sobering reading’.
Helen Pitcher said in a statement on Thursday: ‘It is clear from [Chris Henley KC’s] findings that the Commission failed Andrew Malkinson. For this, I am deeply sorry. I have written to Mr Malkinson to offer him my sincere regret and an unreserved apology on behalf of the Commission.’
She continued: ‘There may have been a belief that I have been unwilling ever to apologise to Mr Malkinson, and I want to clarify that this is not the case. For me, offering a genuine apology required a clear understanding of the circumstances in which the Commission failed Mr Malkinson. We now have that.
‘Nobody can ever begin to imagine the devastating impact that Mr Malkinson’s wrongful conviction has had on his life, and I can only apologise for the additional harm caused to him by our handling of his case.’
In a statement issued through his legal team at the charity, APPEAL, Andy Malkinson responded: ‘I feel vindicated by this unreserved apology – but it is too little too late.
‘The time for Helen Pitcher to apologise was last summer when I was exonerated. It was already crystal clear that the CCRC had completely failed me. Yet she’s held off on apologising until a report spelled this out for her in black and white. It is hard for me to see sincerity in an apology after all this time – when you are truly sorry for what you have done, you respond immediately and instinctively, it wells up in you.’
He said the CCRC were only apologising now because they had been ‘found out’, and that this KC-led report represented ‘the last escape hatch’ now being closed on them.
Last September Malkinson’s lawyer wrote directly to Helen Pitcher requesting an apology for the wrongs that he had endured partly as a result of the CCRC’s grave failings. At this time, Pitcher responded saying she didn’t agree with their criticisms of the body’s work.
Malkinson said this ‘smacks to me of someone who is in denial’. He added that Pitcher’s refusal to apologise until this late stage proved that she was not fit to continue to lead the CCRC, ‘a body which is meant to be dedicated to rooting out the failings in our justice system’. He also used his statement to call on the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, to replace the leadership of the CCRC, ensuring it is now led by people ‘with empathy, humility and a track record of fighting injustice’.
He finished with a statement that he has repeated since he was exonerated last year: ‘I am innocent and I am not the only one. Others must not be let down as I was.’
In the CCRC’s statement they reiterated that other bodies are now also being investigated in a wider review into Malkinson’s entire ordeal, including Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. For this reason, they will not be publishing Henley’s full report until they know how it may impact the wider inquiry.
