Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Stephen Downing

 

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

27

Year Crime:

Year Convicted:

1975

Year Cleared:

2002

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Stephen Downing was wrongly convicted of murdering a woman in 1974 based on his alleged confession that was contradictory to the evidence. Downing's conviction was quashed by England's 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 Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

17

Age When Released:

45

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

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:

Book About Case:

"Town Without Pity: The Fight To Clear Stephen Downing of the Bakewell Murder, by Don Hale with Marika Huns and Hamish McGregor (Century 2002)"

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case:

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

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