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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Harassment criminal (incl. Aggravated) |
Sentence: |
"24 week suspended sentence, and payment of £1,139 restitution, £650 court costs, and £115 victim surcharge" |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2015 |
Year Convicted: |
2016 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
Bath |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Frances Avis was wrongly convicted on February 26, 2016 of three counts of harassment and two counts of sending threatening notes in Bath, England. Avis' prosecution was based on allegations by her next door neighbor Mark Webb that she had sent him a letter in October 2015 admitting that she vandalized his Jaguar -- which caused £1,123 in damage -- and threatened to burn down his house. Avis protested her innocence, and that although she had a long running feud with her neighbors Mark Webb and Susan Webb, she didn't commit the vandalism that caused write or mail the letter. During Avis' trial, Mark and Susan Webb both admitted that they hadn't seen her put the letters through their door or smash the car windows. After Avis was convicted in the Bath Magistrates' Court, her lawyer, Charles Cronin, made a pre-sentence plea for a new trial because with her sentencing "a massive miscarriage of justice" would take place. The judge denied Cronin's plea, and in July 2016 she was given a 24 week suspended sentence, and payment of £1,139 restitution, £650 court costs, and £115 victim surcharge. Avis appealed. On August 9, 2009 Judge Julian Lambert quashed Avis' conviction during an appeal hearing in the Bristol Crown Court. Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mike Blitz had informed the court that her appeal was not going to be opposed "as a result of matters that have come to light since the appellant was convicted." In September 2016 it was publicly disclosed what the new evidence was that resulted in Avis' exoneration: Three people were arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice by falsely accusing her of writing and sending the letters. The three were her neighbors Mark Webb, 42, and his wife Susan Webb, 35, and 19-year-old Andrew Lanfear. The plot by the three to frame Avis unraveled when a handwriting expert matched Mark Webb's handwriting in his diary to the handwriting of a threatening letter that Avis had allegedly written. Lanfear was also charged with falsely accusing Avis with assaulting him on June 8, 2016. They were all released on bail. On November 17, 2016 Lanfear pled guilty to a single count of perverting the course of justice on May 28, 2016, by falsely accusing Avis of writing a threatening letter to Mark and Susan Webb, and he also admitted that he falsely alleged that Avis assaulted him on June 8, 2016. In April 2017 Mark Webb pled guilty to perverting the course of justice. The said that he cooked up the idea to frame Avis because he was jealous of her because he thought his dog Patch liked her more than him because of her kindness to Patch." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by three prosecution witnesses falsely accusing Avis. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 9, 2009 Judge Julian Lambert quashed Avis' conviction during an appeal hearing in the Bristol Crown Court. Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mike Blitz had informed the court that her appeal was not going to be opposed "as a result of matters that have come to light since the appellant was convicted." In September 2016 it was publicly disclosed what the new evidence was that resulted in Avis' exoneration: Three people were arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice by falsely accusing her of writing and sending the letters. The three were her neighbors Mark Webb, 42, and his wife Susan Webb, 35, and 19-year-old Andrew Lanfear." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Homeowner who was wrongly convicted of threatening to BURN DOWN houses on her street in poison pen letters is finally cleared as her neighbour admits he framed her after they fell out, By Anthony Joseph, Daily Mail (London), April 27, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4451200/Homeowner-framed-neighbour-faking-poison-letters.html?ITO=1490 |
Information Source 2: |
"Man charged with making false allegations against wrongly convicted Bath woman Frances Avis, By Amanda Cameron, Bath Chronicle (Bath, England), September 30, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/young-man-charged-with-attempting-to-pervert-the-course-of-justice-in-mark-webb-frances-avis-case/story-29765923-detail/story.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Bath woman wrongly accused of harrassing her neighbours has convictions and sentence overturned, By Amanda Cameron, Bath Chronicle (Bath, England), August 9, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/bath-woman-wrongly-accused-of-harrassing-her-neighbours-has-convictions-and-sentence-overturned/story-29600916-detail/story.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Nightmare Bath neighbour threatened to burn couple's house down after trashing their car, By Tim MacFarlan, Western Daily Press, February 26, 2016" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/neighbour-life-hell/story-28810104-detail/story.html |
Information Source 5: |
"Frances Avis, Facebook" |
Information Location 5: |
https://www.facebook.com/frances.avis |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org