Criminal appeals frame will likely be reformed ‘no matter it takes’, says new chair

The new intervening time chairwoman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has informed the BBC she is going to do “whatever it takes” to reform the embattled felony appeals frame.

Dame Vera Baird KC mentioned the CCRC appeared “incapable of learning from their mistakes” and he or she sought after to “root out” the tradition inflicting them.

The executive has given her the duty of reviewing the CCRC, and to extend public self belief within the organisation and its paintings investigating attainable miscarriages of justice.

The former sufferers commissioner and executive minister was once appointed on Tuesday after her predecessor Helen Pitcher hand over following the fall-out from the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Dame Vera described the CCRC as a “hugely important organisation for our criminal justice system” however criticised the company in its present state.

“They seem incapable of learning from their mistakes,” she mentioned, later referencing that Mr Malkinson’s case was once no longer dissimilar to that of Victor Nealon – a person who additionally spent 17 years at the back of bars after wrongfully being convicted of tried rape.

“Even as the CCRC was looking at an identical case in Malkinson [they were] failing to refer to [past cases],” Dame Vera mentioned. “There is some inability to grasp the level of failure that is going on.”

She additionally mentioned she is writing to frame’s leader govt Karen Kneller to “discuss her position” and long term, in addition to one of the most individuals who have no longer had their miscarriages of justice correctly referred.

Mr Malkinson was once accused in 2003 of raping a girl in Greater Manchester. He was once later convicted and jailed for existence regardless of no DNA linking him to the crime.

He spent 17 years in jail – right through which era he implemented two times for his case to be reviewed via the CCRC however was once became down – and was once ultimately launched in December 2020.

Only after new proof pointed to every other attainable suspect in January 2023 was once his case referred to the Court of Appeal. Mr Malkinson’s conviction was once overturned in July 2023.

A 12 months later, an impartial evaluate discovered Mr Malkinson have been utterly failed via the CCRC with the damning record concluding he may have been freed 5 years after being to start with imprisoned.

The dealing with of the case resulted in Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood looking for to sack Ms Pitcher as CCRC chair. She later resigned in January.

When requested if she fears there could also be different instances very similar to Malkinson’s in the market, Dame Vera mentioned there’s doubt round whether or not the CCRC is doing their process in a “rigorous and positive way at all”.

Since the Malkinson case the CCRC has initiated an interior evaluate of instances through which DNA was once a component in convictions of other people for essentially the most severe crimes.

“There is a question mark over that,” she mentioned, “which stems from the cases we know that have been catastrophically handled. I think as we dig a little deeper, and as I talk to people who tried to get cases referred, we may find more.”

Dame Vera, a legal barrister, turned into an MP in 2001 and was once solicitor basic right through Gordon Brown’s management between 2007 and 2010, probably the most most sensible felony posts in executive.

She went directly to turn into the police and crime commissioner for Northumbria Police after which the sufferers commissioner for England and Wales between 2019 and 2022.