David Cooper

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:	20 years
Years Imprisoned:	11
Year Crime:	1969
Year Convicted:	1970
Year Cleared:	2003
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	England
City of Crime:	Luton
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Posthumously
Summary of Case:	"David Cooper was a co-defendant of Patrick Murphy and Michael McMahon in the 1969 Luton, England post office robbery in which a clerk was murdered. The getaway vehicle was identified as belonging to Alfred Matthews, who had a previous conviction for robbing a post office. In exchange for having all charges against him dropped, Matthews picked Cooper, McMahon and Murphy out of an identification parade. The three men were convicted on the basis of Matthews identification. Murphy's conviction was quashed in 1973 on the basis of alibi evidence that he could not have been at the scene of the robbery. McMahon and Cooper were released in 1980. Cooper died in 1995 at 51, and McMahon in 1999 at 55, while still trying to get their convictions quashed, claiming that Matthews had randomly picked them from the people in the line-up as a way to have his charges dropped. On appeal the lawyer for the two men was Gareth Peirce, who also aided the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. The police officer in charge of the case was Chief Superintendent Ken Drury, who was later jailed for corruption. The Criminal Case Review Commission referred the cases of Cooper and McMahon to the Court of Appeal on March 15, 2001. Court of Appeals posthumously quashed both men's conviction on July 31, 2003."
Conviction Caused By:	Perjury by the prosecution's chief suspect who had charges dropped in exchange for identifying the three innocent co-defendants.
Innocence Proved By:	"Court of Appeal quashed murder convictions of Cooper and McMahon on July 31, 2003 after referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission."
Defendant Aided By:	Criminal Case Review Commission
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	26
Age When Released:	36
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"It Never Feels A Triumph: Interview with Gareth Peirce," Bob Woffinden, The Guardian, June 24, 2003"
Information Location 1:	"http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,3605,983665,00.html"
Information Source 2:	"Men cleared of 1970 murder, BBC News, July 31, 2003"
Information Location 2:	http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/3112667.stm
Information Source 3:	"Dead men finally cleared of murder: Appeal court quashes convictions for 1969 Luton post office killing, Bob Woffinden (staff), The Guardian (London UK), August 1, 2003"
Information Location 3:	"http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1010122,00.html"
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David Cooper

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

20 years

Years Imprisoned:

11

Year Crime:

1969

Year Convicted:

1970

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

England

City of Crime:

Luton

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Posthumously

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Perjury by the prosecution's chief suspect who had charges dropped in exchange for identifying the three innocent co-defendants.

Innocence Proved By:

"Court of Appeal quashed murder convictions of Cooper and McMahon on July 31, 2003 after referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission."

Defendant Aided By:

Criminal Case Review Commission

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

26

Age When Released:

36

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"It Never Feels A Triumph: Interview with Gareth Peirce," Bob Woffinden, The Guardian, June 24, 2003"

Information Location 1:

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,3605,983665,00.html"

Information Source 2:

"Men cleared of 1970 murder, BBC News, July 31, 2003"

Information Location 2:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bucks/herts/3112667.stm

Information Source 3:

"Dead men finally cleared of murder: Appeal court quashes convictions for 1969 Luton post office killing, Bob Woffinden (staff), The Guardian (London UK), August 1, 2003"

Information Location 3:

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1010122,00.html"

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: