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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Rape |
Sentence: |
8-1/2 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.58 |
Year Crime: |
1977 |
Year Convicted: |
2013 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
Christchurch |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"David Bryant was wrongly convicted on December 20, 2013 of raping a teenage boy more than three decades earlier on one occasion at a date unknown in 1976, 1977, or 1978 in Christchurch, Dorset County, England. Bryant was a retired fireman, and his prosecution was based on the allegation made to police in October 2012 by 49-year-old Daniel Day, that Bryant and fellow fireman Dennis Goodman took turns raping him when the firemen invited him to play darts on one occasion at the Christchurch Fire Station. Day also alleged that Bryant and Goodman had sex with each other. Day couldn't identify when the alleged assault occurred, but said it happened sometime in 1976, 1977, or 1978 when he was 13 to 15 years old. Danny Day said he never told his family about the incident, and was reminded of it when he visited Dorset County in 2010. Day claimed that he waited 35 years to accuse Bryant (Goodman was deceased) because he was inspired to do so after the publicity about the 'Jimmy Savile affair'. Saville was a BBC presenter who was discovered to be a prolific paedophile. Bryant adamantly denied that the incidents testified to by Day ever occurred, and he presented evidence of his unblemished character. Faced with a "He Said, He Said" case and no evidence confirming Day's account, a majority of the jury chose to believe Day and convicted Bryant of rape. (To avoid mistrials England allows 10-2 and 11-1 majority jury verdicts for rape prosecutions.) Bryant was sentenced on January 24, 2014 to six years in prison -- the minimum allowed under the law. Bryant, who had been free on bail, was immediately taken into custody. Bryant appealed, and in affirming his conviction in 2014 the Court of Appeals for England and Wales found his sentence was "unduly lenient," and increased it to 8-1/2 years. Day, who waived his legal right to anonymity during Bryant's trial, filed a civil lawsuit in early 2015 against Bryant and Dorsett County. Day's lawsuit that sought damages of £50,000 and £100,000 (US$78,000 to US$156,000) made claims that included he was a boxing champion with a record better than Muhammad Ali, but he had to give up his place on the British boxing team at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 because of the trauma of Bryant's sexual assault. Both Bryant and Dorset County denied liability. Bryant's wife, Lynn Bryant, passionately believed in her husband's innocence and she convinced several lawyers to represent him pro bono, and she convinced private investigators to work on investigating his case pro bono. The lawyers were able to convince the civil judge to deny Day's demand for interim damages of £30,000 and legal costs of £30,000. The investigators discovered evidence that Day was a pathological serial liar and fantasist. Day's fabrications included his lawsuit's completely false claim he was a champion boxer -- and in fact there was no evidence he had ever set foot in a boxing ring in his life. It was also discovered that from at least 2000 to 2010 Day sought medical treatment for his compulsive lying. The new evidence demonstrated that Day was a compulsive liar and fantasist who fabricated his allegations against Bryant, and he was a gold digger who wanted to manipulate the legal system into a big payday for himself. Bryant filed a petition in March 2015 for leave to appeal his conviction based on the new evidence undermining Day's credibility. In July 2015 a judge denied Bryant's petition, but Bryant renewed his application that was scheduled to be heard by a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal. After a hearing in March 2016 Bryant was granted leave to appeal. The Crown Prosecution Service did not oppose Bryant's petition. On July 20, 2016 the Court of Appeal quashed Bryant's conviction, and in announcing the ruling Justice Singh stated regarding the new evidence that Day was a serial liar: “We regret that these matters did not come to light earlier and that the appellant, a man of good character, has suffered the consequences that he has.” The CPS informed the court it would not seek a retrial, and Bryant was ordered released from custody. After the hearing David Bryant told reporters outside the court building: "After over two years jailed for a crime I did not commit, today I am a free man. This was a case that should never have been brought, which has caused so much pain and hurt to me and my wife and our family. Danny Day is a fantasist and a liar and it is his actions and the failure of the police and the CPS that led to me, an innocent man, being wrongly jailed in a gross miscarriage of justice. While today is a victory and I am once again free, there are serious questions about how allegations of historic sexual abuse are investigated and dealt with. What happened to me must never be allowed to happen again. Being wrongly imprisoned as an innocent man is a living hell and something I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy." Based on the appeals court's ruling, Day's civil lawsuit will likely be dismissed either by Day voluntarily withdrawing it, or by the granting of a motion by Bryant to dismiss it. " |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by the allleged victim who fabricated the allegations. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 20, 2016 the Court of Appeal quashed Bryant's conviction, and in announcing the ruling Justice Singh stated regarding the new evidence that Day was a serial liar: “We regret that these matters did not come to light earlier and that the appellant, a man of good character, has suffered the consequences that he has.” The CPS informed the court it would not seek a retrial, and Bryant was ordered released from custody." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
63 |
Age When Released: |
66 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Fire chief wrongly convicted of rape freed from 8-year prison sentence by devoted wife, By Natalie Corner, Mirror (London, UK), July 26, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/fire-chief-wrongly-convicted-rape-8495431 |
Information Source 2: |
"Fireman David Bryant found guilty of raping schoolboy almost 40 years ago, By Will Frampton (Staff writer), The Argus, December 20, 2013" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10892648.Fireman_David_Bryant_found_guilty_of_raping_schoolboy_almost_40_years_ago/ |
Information Source 3: |
"Former fireman David Bryant jailed for six years for raping schoolboy almost 40 years ago, By Will Frampton, The Bournemouth Echo (Bournemouth, UK), January 24, 2014" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/10963101.Former_fireman_David_Bryant_jailed_for_six_years_for_raping_schoolboy_almost_40_years_ago/ |
Information Source 4: |
"Police and prosecutors criticised after firefighter wrongly convicted of sex attacks solely on testimony of fantasist, By Robert Mendick (Chief Reporter), The Telegraph, July 20, 2016" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/20/police-and-prosecutors-criticised-after-firefighter-wrongly-conv/ |
Information Source 5: |
"The shocking case of David Bryant reveals the fallacy that we can always spot a liar, By Matthew Scott, BarristerBlogger.com, July 21, 2016" |
Information Location 5: |
http://barristerblogger.com/2016/07/21/shocking-case-david-bryant-reveals-fallacy-can-always-spot-liar/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org