Donna Clarke

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Charge:	Arson
Sentence:	20 years
Years Imprisoned:	3.5
Year Crime:	1995
Year Convicted:	1995
Year Cleared:	1999
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	Wales
City of Crime:	Gurnos
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Donna Clarke was codefendant of Annette Hewins. The two were wrongly convicted of arson with intent to endanger life for a fire that killed a young mother and her two children in Gurnos, Wales in October 1995. Clarke was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Hewins to 13 years. The Court of Appeals quashed their convictions on February 15, 1999. Hewins was freed when the Court ruled there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction, but a retrial was ordered for Clarke. Clarke's lawyers then sucessfully argued that her retrial was barred by double jeopardy, and she was freed on April 16, 1999. Hewins and Clarke later filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the police. A third defendant, Denise Sullivan on appeal had her conviction affirmed, but her sentence reduced to 3-1/2 years from four years."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"The Court of Appeals quashed the convictions of Clarke and Hewins on February 15, 1999."
Defendant Aided By:	"Hewins had a formidable ally, her mother-in-law, Veronica, a Jehovah's Witness for 30 years. "I used to imagine I didn't come up to Veronica's standards," Hewins says, "but she has become my rock." Veronica, also a mother of four, investigated other miscarriages of justice and persuaded Michael Mansfield QC to take up her daughter-in-law's case. Major doubts about the convictions were raised in the Guardian (London, UK) in December 1997 by Bob Woffinden."
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	24
Age When Released:	28
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Innocent UK website
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/
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Donna Clarke

Charge:

Arson

Sentence:

20 years

Years Imprisoned:

3.5

Year Crime:

1995

Year Convicted:

1995

Year Cleared:

1999

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

Wales

City of Crime:

Gurnos

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"The Court of Appeals quashed the convictions of Clarke and Hewins on February 15, 1999."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

24

Age When Released:

28

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Innocent UK website

Information Location 1:

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

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