Miscarriage of justice watchdog had ‘hole at its heart’, committee chair says

Senior control on the miscarriage of justice watchdog have been advised there was once a “hole at the heart” of the organisation as MPs criticised its operating from house coverage and requested executives in the event that they felt they have been the suitable other people to proceed main it.

In an explanation consultation on Tuesday, the manager government of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), Karen Kneller, was once puzzled via the cross-party Commons’ justice committee over its failings within the Andrew Malkinson case, her dear French trade classes, and the organisation’s far off operating coverage, below which, she advised them, she labored only one to 2 days in its Birmingham head place of business each and every month.

The CCRC has confronted serious complaint over its dealing with of Malkinson’s wrongful conviction. Sources have prior to now advised the Guardian Kneller was once given the nickname “Karen Invisible” via personnel, and described via some operating for her as “absent”, together with her “finger off the pulse”.

Asked if such stories have been truthful, Kneller advised MPs: “No, I don’t recognise that at all.

“I have been highly visible within the organisation: weekly updates to staff, monthly staff briefings, I’m in calls and meetings all the time. So that is not something that I recognise.”

The operating from house coverage had allowed the CCRC to recruit high-calibre personnel from throughout the United Kingdom, enabling it to fill positions it had prior to now struggled to fill, MPs have been advised.

But the committee chair, Andy Slaughter, stated he was once “shocked” senior personnel have been absent from the place of business. “There does seem to be a hole at the heart of this organisation,” he stated.

He requested Kneller, and Amanda Pearce, CCRC casework operations director, in the event that they “really feel now, with everything that has happened, that you are the right people to lead this organisation forward”.

Kneller answered: “I think we are absolutely the right people to lead this organisation.”

The dealing with of the Malkinson case resulted in an apology from the CCRC and the resignation in January of its chair Helen Pitcher.

Asked if she had individually apologised to Malkinson, Kneller answered: “No, I haven’t.” Asked if such an apology may well be suitable, she stated: “Absolutely. Without doubt, we got that case wrong, Mr Malkinson was failed.”

She added: “Absolutely, I extend my apology to Mr Malkinson. Everyone in the organisation deeply regrets what happened on that case. I can’t begin to think of the impact this has had on him, the double impact of serving a sentence, suffering miscarriage of justice and then the way we handled his case, so absolutely.”

Kneller was once puzzled about stories within the Guardian that she had incessantly attended Insead trade college in Fontainebleau over the last 5 years, together with a route whose charges are marketed at greater than £21,000 for 10 days’ educating.

She stated she was once not able to verify the precise figures. “What I can say is, over the course of my 12-13 years as a chief executive, the organisation has invested around £50,000 in my development,” she added.

Slaughter requested what she considered Pitcher’s resignation letter, by which the departing chair mentioned that some departing commissioners had suggested her to take away the senior control workforce.

Kneller stated it was once “unfortunate” and “it felt a very strange thing to say in a resignation letter”.

She instructed the committee “and others to judge our performance across all of our case work, and not only those cases that get into the headlines, which is a tiny, tiny minority of our casework”.