Minister ‘Shocked’ as Police Accused of Knowing About DNA Clue in Malkinson Case in 2007

Labour's deputy leader says revelations are 'absolutely appalling'

Andrew Malkinson raises a fist outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on July 26, 2023. Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP

Treasury minister John Glen has called for a “thorough review” of the Andrew Malkinson case as it emerged case files Mr. Malkinson has obtained suggest police and prosecutors knew about the presence on a rape victim’s clothes of another man’s DNA in 2007.

Mr. Malkinson, who is now 57, stayed in prison until 2020 and only had his conviction quashed last month after the DNA sample was produced.

Case files that were released to Mr. Malkinson show forensic testing in 2007 had identified the DNA profile of another man on the woman’s vest top, The Guardian reported.

But Greater Manchester Police opted to take no action and there is apparently no record they informed the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body responsible for investigating possible miscarriages of justice.

Lord Garnier, KC, a former solicitor general, described the miscarriage of justice in Mr. Malkinson’s case as “jaw dropping” and the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said the latest revelations were “absolutely appalling.”

Mr. Malkinson was convicted of raping a woman in Manchester in 2003 and was jailed for life the following year, but his convictions on two counts of rape and one of choking or strangling with intent to commit rape were quashed by the Court of Appeal last month.

He rejected an apology from Greater Manchester Police as “meaningless.”

When the DNA misnomer was eventually flagged up to the CCRC they said there must be an “innocent explanation.”

Minister ‘Very Angry and Shocked’

Mr. Glen told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme he was “very angry and shocked” by what had happened to Mr. Malkinson and said he knew the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk would be looking into the latest claims.

He said: “I can’t account for what decisions were made in 2004 and 2009, but I am very sympathetic to what he has said and this is a miscarriage of justice. Clearly a thorough review of what happened to give this man answers and justice is necessary.”

James Burley, investigator at charity Appeal, told the BBC: “These documents essentially hammer home the litany of failures by the CCRC … the body that’s supposed to act as a safety net in our justice system. Effectively failures to investigate by the CCRC, really flawed decision making by the CCRC, cost Andy an extra decade in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.”

He said the CCRC turned the evidence down, “essentially speculating that there might have been an innocent explanation.”

Mr. Burley said: “The victim’s boyfriend had been ruled out, the paramedics who tended to the victim had been ruled out as a source of the DNA, and also the dog walker who called 999 had been ruled out. So really that was just pure speculation and obviously that DNA has now been matched to the suspect who has been arrested.”

Ms. Rayner told the BBC, “We do need to get to the facts of what has happened, and we need the reassurance that this … how did it happen, and it’s never going to happen again, and is there anybody else in those circumstances?”

“People have got to have confidence in our justice system and that if something like this comes up and it’s flagged, and it seems that the evidence was there years ago to prove that this individual was innocent of the crime, then that should have been flagged because, of course, the real perpetrator of the crime as well would have been left to carry on and potentially commit more horrendous crimes,” she said.

‘Let Down by the Justice System’

Asked to describe his reaction to the revelations, Lord Garnier told the BBC: “Jaw dropping shock. I think the more one learns about this case … the more one is shocked about how Mr. Malkinson was let down by the justice system.”

He said: “It seems to me that what we need now is complete and utter disclosure, public disclosure, of every document that relates to this case, save those which if disclosed would impede the prosecution of a new suspect, and there should be a public inquiry which should reach conclusions about what went wrong, who knew what and when, within a six-month period.”

In a statement to The Guardian the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “It is clear Mr. Malkinson was wrongly convicted of this crime and we share the deep regret that this happened. Evidence of a new DNA profile found on the victim’s clothing in 2007 was not ignored. It was disclosed to the defence team representing Mr. Malkinson for their consideration.”

“In addition, searches of the DNA databases were conducted to identify any other possible suspects. At that time there were no matches and therefore no further investigation could be carried out,” it added.

The CCRC told The Guardian, “As we have said before, it is plainly wrong that a man spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the CPS and the CCRC for comment.

PA Media contributed to this report.