Andy Malkinson, 57, was convicted raping a woman in Manchester in 2003 and was jailed for life the following year but DNA tests later proved another man had committed the crime.
His convictions on two counts of rape and one of choking or strangling with intent to commit rape were quashed by judges at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday and Greater Manchester Police immediately offered an apology.
The force’s assistant chief constable, Sarah Jackson, said: “We are truly sorry to Mr. Malkinson that he is the victim of such a grave miscarriage of justice in being convicted of a crime he did not commit and serving a 17-year custodial sentence.”
“Whilst we hope this outcome gives him a long overdue sense of justice, we acknowledge that it does not return the years he has lost. I have offered to meet with him to personally deliver this apology,” she added.
‘Apology Without Accountability ... Means Nothing’
“An apology without accountability, what is that? It’s nothing, it’s nothing, it means nothing,” he added.Speaking of his ordeal, Mr. Malkinson told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme: “It’s taken an extremely heavy toll on my person, my psyche, my psychology, my being, my soul. I can’t articulate how I even managed to get through it. I was in total shock for the first few years. I contemplated suicide many times.”
At the time of his trial, there was no DNA evidence and the prosecution case against him was based entirely on identification evidence, which turned out to be inaccurate.
Two witnesses who identified Mr. Malkinson had convictions for dishonesty offences and one was a heroin addict.
But a DNA sample had been taken and was tested and was eventually tested in October 2022 and linked to another man, who has since been arrested but not charged.
Mr. Malkinson was given a minimum tariff of seven years but because he maintained his innocence and refused to undergo courses designed for inmates to address their offending he served an additional ten years.
On Thursday the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said it was wrong that people in prison who were protesting their innocence can find it harder to be released.
“That’s one issue that I think needs to be looked at and certainly was something that was unfair to Andrew Malkinson,” added Mr. Burnham, who was a Cabinet minister under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Mr. Malkinson also criticised the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which had twice turned down his case.
‘They Claimed I was ’in Denial’
“They claimed I was ‘in denial’ and made me serve an extra ten more years in prison because I would not make a false confession. I am not a liar. I am not in denial but I will tell you who is. Greater Manchester Police are liars, and they are in denial,” he added.Mr. Malkinson addressed the rape victim: “I am so sorry that you were attacked and brutalised that night by that man. I am not the person who attacked you but what happened to me is not your fault.”
Mr. Malkinson’s mother Tricia Hose, said: “Now Andy’s name has been cleared, suddenly in the public eye, I am no longer a deluded mother. My son is no longer a monster.”
“But what has been done to him cannot be undone. The damage will be with him for the rest of his life and the woman who got attacked has been denied justice, just as my son was,” she added.
