Postman wrongly convicted of sexual assault is freed

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Man wrongly convicted of sexual assault is freed after 17 years in jail

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Appeal court overturns Victor Nealon's conviction after DNA evidence points to another perpetrator

A man who spent 17 years behind bars after being wrongly convicted of a sexual assault has been freed by the court of appeal after DNA evidence pointed to another man as the perpetrator.

Victor Nealon, a former postman, has always maintained his innocence. He was convicted in January 1997 of the attempted rape of a woman leaving a nightclub.

Three appeal court judges quashed the conviction after a hearing lasting around an hour at the Royal Courts of Justice. Lord Justice Fulford said the court would set out its full judgment at a later date.

Peter Willcock QC, for Nealon, argued that had the DNA evidence been provided at the original trial it would have been "explosive".

The crown said it would not seek to appeal against the ruling.

Nealon, 53, was appearing via videolink from Wakefield prison, and spoke only to say: "Thank you. Thank you very much." He had been serving a discretionary life sentence but was not considered for parole because he consistently denied the offence.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred his case - which since 2010 has been highlighted by the Guardian in its Justice on Trial series - to the court of appeal earlier this year. It accepted Nealon's legal team's argument that DNA traces on the 22-year-old victim's blouse and underwear belonging to another unknown male made the conviction unsafe.

Nealon had twice before appealed to the CCRC, but the CCRC had resisted calls to conduct DNA tests on evidence. The solicitor Mark Newby, of Jordan's Solicitors in Doncaster, who took up the case in 2008, commissioned independent experts and proved that the samples, from an unidentified male, could not have been Nealon's.

The crown argued that the DNA evidence was neutral, as samples could have been from other sources, such as the shops where the victim bought the clothes. But lawyers for Nealon said the position of the DNA samples was consistent with the description of the assault, and on more than one item of clothing. Willcock told the court that the fact Nealon had always requested testing of the clothes for DNA evidence, which could have identified him had he been the attacker, underlined his innocence.

The CCRC carried out extensive checks to match the DNA profile found on the victim's clothing to people who had handled the evidence or knew the victim, but found no match.

Leo O'Toole, a friend of Nealon's who has campaigned for his release, said it was a great day, but it had taken too many years to secure justice. "The overturning of this conviction shows how difficult it can be to right a wrong. The damage to Victor – and to the victim – is irreversible. She will also now know that the real perpetrator got away free."

He added: "Victor has been emotionally and physically traumatised and is effectively homeless." He said that Nealon had been assaulted in the notoriously tough Wakefield prison even within the last few weeks.

Newby said: "It's a serious miscarriage of justice, and it's been hard fought. But it also demonstrates the importance of appeal lawyers being able to access evidence from old cases, as there clearly could be other wrongful convictions out there in cases when exhibits are withheld."

He said they would be deciding whether to seek compensation for Nealon's years in prison in the new year.

While the thrust of the appeal was the fresh DNA evidence, the court also heard there were concerns about witness identification of Nealon, as statements said he had distinctive facial features including a lump on his forehead that did not match Nealon's.

[Lounge Lizard]

Not before time but Victor will find the job has changed quite a bit, and not for the better, since 1997.

[NWpostie]

He should be due a big compensation payment, He lost 17 years of his life, at 36 he could have had his house paid off, settled down a wife or partner and had children, all this has been taken away from him, how do you calculate that ?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

MoJ refuses to pay compensation to man wrongly imprisoned for 17 years

Victor Nealon, who was convicted in January 1997 of attempted rape, was only freed last December after judges decided his conviction was unsafe

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Chris Grayling, the justice secretary. Nealon's lawyers were told that Grayling had 'concluded that your client has not suffered a miscarriage of justice as defined by section 133 of the 1988 Act'. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PA
The Ministry of Justice has refused to pay compensation to Victor Nealon, the former postman who was wrongly imprisoned for 17 years before being freed on appeal last December.

Nealon was convicted in January 1997 of the attempted rape of a woman leaving a nightclub in Redditch, and was not paroled because he consistently denied the offence.

Despite judges having decided the conviction was unsafe, Nealon's application for compensation under the statutory scheme has been turned down. The MoJ told Nealon's lawyers that the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, had reviewed the information and "concluded that your client has not suffered a miscarriage of justice as defined by section 133 of the 1988 Act".

Mark Newby of Jordans solicitors, who fought for Nealon's release, said they would be seeking a judicial review of the decision. He said: "It's a nonsense. At the end of the day, his conviction was quashed on the basis that someone else was responsible, so why should he not be entitled to compensation?"

Nealon is now living in temporary accommodation in Birmingham, where he has been since being suddenly discharged from the category A Wakefield prison in December. He said: "I'm still picking up the pieces of my life. My fight isn't over. It's going to take years."

The Criminal Cases Review Commission finally referred Nealon's case to the court of appeal in 2013, after accepting his legal team's argument that DNA traces from a single, unknown male on the 22-year-old victim's clothing may have come from the attacker. The court of appeal ruled that had the jury been aware of DNA evidence, as well as weaknesses in the identification evidence, "it could well have led to the appellant's acquittal"

[DB1100]

Some famous person gets called libelled on twitter and sue's successfully for thousands and thousands of £'s,this poor fella might end up with nothing for 17 years of his life,what a crazy messed up world.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Former postman wrongly convicted of rape loses fight for compensation

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Former postman Victor Nealon's conviction for attempted rape was quashed after he had spent 17 years behind bars.

He has now lost a High Court battle for compensation.

Mr Nealon, from Redditch in Worcestershire, had asked two judges to rule that UK law is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because it wrongly restricts compensation in "miscarriage of justice" cases.

He was set free after appeal judges ruled that fresh evidence made his conviction unsafe. Mr Nealon had always denied being the attacker.

He intends to proceed to the Court of Appeal.