Wrongly Convicted Database Record

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Stephen Downing


Years Imprisoned:

27

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Year Convicted:

1975

Year Cleared:

2002

Location of Trial:

United Kingdom

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Wrongly convicted of murdering a woman in 1974 based on his alleged confession that was contradictory to the evidence. Conviction quashed by the Court of Appeals on January 15, 2002. Awarded an interim compensation award of £250,000, and in October 2006 awarded an additional £500,000 compensation, for a total of £750,000 ($1,403,584 conversion rate on 10-16-2006).

Conviction Caused By:

False confession.

Innocence Proved By:

Court of Appeals quashed conviction on Januaary 15, 2002 after referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

£750,000 total, £500,000 (October 2006) and £250,000 earlier interim payment)

Was Perpetrator Found?

Age When Imprisoned:

17

Age When Released:

45

Information Source 1:

Innocent UK website

Information Location 1:

http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/

Information Source 2:

Recent Case Statatistics, Criminal Cases Review Commission

Information Location 2:

http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/latestnews/latestnews_case.html

Information Source 3:

£500,000 payout for 'bakewell tart' murder suspect, Evening Standard, October 16, 2006

Information Location 3:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23371010-details/%C2%A3500,000+payout+for+'Bakewell+Tart'+murder+suspect/article.do

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Ethnicity/Skin:

White

Book About Case:

Town Without Pity by Don Hale (Century 2002)

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

Falsely confessed


Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org