Chilling miscarriages of justice - murdered mum, postmasters and showbiz death
During the summer of 1992, the nation was horrified when a young mum was stabbed to death 49 times in front of her two-year-old son in broad daylight on Wimbledon Common. Rachel Nickell's toddler son was found by a passer by who described how he was clinging to his mother's body repeating the words "Wake up, Mummy". Former model Rachel, 23 was walking her dog on Wimbledon Common in South West London when she was attacked for no reason and sexually assaulted. But what happened next led to one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the UK has seen.
Colin Stagg was lured into confessing he was responsible for Rachel's murder by a female police officer who pretended she was interested in dating him. He then spent 13 months in custody but the case was eventually thrown out due to entrapment by the police. It wasn't until 2008 that serial killer and rapist Robert Napper admitted he was the one who stabbed Rachel that morning in July 1992.
Colin was awarded £706, 000 in compensation from the Home Office in 2008 which he blew on cars, holidays and gifts for loved ones. The 60-year-old now lives in a council emergency shelter after his girlfriend kicked him out in April and survives on less than £300 a week Universal Credit. He said: "After everything I'd been through, I just wanted to live for the moment. I guess it did feel a bit like winning the lottery. I thought it might last me 10 years, possibly 20. I wasn't really thinking about the future." But his case isn't the only miscarriage of justice to have rocked the world...
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton
Police refused to believe Lindy when she said a dingo had taken her baby (AFP/Getty Images)In a high profile case that had everyone gripped - mum Lindy was convicted in 1982 for the murder of her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, after police failed to believe her claim she had been snatched by a dingo. Then a few years later in 1986, a British tourist fell to his death in Uluru while hiking. It was only during the search for his remains that Azaria's missing jacket was discovered in an area full of dingo lairs and Lindy was released. On September 15, 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and her husband, Michael Chamberlain.
The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven
Four people were killed and over 50 injured in an IRA bomb attack on the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford. (PA)The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted in 1974 and 1976, respectively, of planting bombs in various pubs in Guildford and Woolwich, which were actually carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Their convictions were quashed in 1989 and 1991. On February 9, 2005, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a public apology to the Maguire Seven and the Guildford Four for the "miscarriages of justice they had suffered". One of the Guildford Four victims, Gerry Conlon is said to have received compensation in the region of £500,000.
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Cardiff Newsagent Three (Michael O'Brien, Darren Hall and Ellis Sherwood)
The trio were wrongly convicted for the murder of newsagent, Phillip Saunders, who was battered with a spade outside his Cardiff home. The day's takings from his kiosk had been stolen and he died of his injuries five days later. The Court of Appeal quashed their convictions in 1999 and the three have since received six figure compensation payouts.
Lee Clegg
Clegg was a British Army sergeant stationed in Belfast during The Troubles. On 30 September 1990 two teenage joyriders, Karen Reilly and Martin Peake, were shot dead while driving a stolen car at speed through a checkpoint manned by Clegg and others, having ignored instructions to stop the car. Clegg was convicted of murdering them but his conviction was overturned by an appeal court in 1999 when new evidence showed the vehicle could have been seen as a threat. The paratrooper received a payout of £25,000 for wages he lost during his two years in jail.
Sub-postmasters operating the Horizon computer system
Pride of Britain winner Alan Bates who campaigned against injustice perpetrated by the Post Office (Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)In 1999 the UK Post Office introduced a computer accounting system named Horizon but it led to unexplained discrepancies and losses. But instead of investigating the new system, the Post Office prosecuted some of its staff for fraud. Between 1991 and 2015 there were 918 successful prosecutions. This Post Office scandal caused the loss of dozens of jobs, bankruptcy, divorce, unwarranted prison sentences and even suicide. Martin Fricker took his own life at 59 after being accused of stealing £60,000.
Alan Bates campaigned for almost 20 years to expose the truth about the Post Office Scandal and get justice for subpostmasters whose lives it destroyed. A public inquiry into what happened and a new scheme to compensate victims was opened earlier this year. Meanwhile, Alan received a special recognition award at the Mirror's Pride of Britain awards this month.
Barry George
Barry George was wrongly put in the frame (Courtesy of Netflix)The murder of much loved TV presenter Jill Dando in 1999 still hasn't been solved despite the fact it sparked the biggest criminal investigation since Jack the Ripper. Witnesses who found her blood- stained body outside her front door reported hearing a scream before seeing a well-dressed man run off.
The only evidence was a single bullet casing, but neighbours said they never heard a gunshot. In 2001, police convicted local loner Barry George but he was later cleared in 2008 after a retrial in which police were unable to rely on discredited forensic evidence. He never received compensation for the time he spent behind bars as it was ruled his trial was not an overt miscarriage of justice but rather his appeal had been successful on legitimate technical issues.
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