Iain Hay Gordon

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Charge:	Murder
Sentence:
Years Imprisoned:	7
Year Crime:	1952
Year Convicted:	1953
Year Cleared:	2000
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	Belfast
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Iain Hay Gordon was falsely confessed to the murder of 19-year-old Patricia Curran near Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was the daughter of a judge and stabbed 37 times. Iain Hay Gorden, 20, was charged with the crime although he claimed he was miles from where it occurred. He confessed, but he recanted his confession claiming he had been coerced to confess by physical and psychological police torture. His attorney claimed he was insane, and the jury found him guilty in 1953 by reason of insanity. Iain Hay Gordon then spent 7 years in a mental institution before being released in 1960. He spent the next 40 years trying to prove his innocence and clear his name, finally succeeding at the age of 68 on Dec. 21, 2000 when his conviction was quashed by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeals. Gordon said after the decision, "I feel a great burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I am overjoyed to have my name finally cleared and become an ordinary individual once again.""
Conviction Caused By:	Police coerced him with physical and psychological torture techniques into making a false confession.
Innocence Proved By:	"Northern Ireland Court of Appeals quashed conviction on December 20, 2000 after referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission"
Defendant Aided By:	Criminal Cases Review Commission
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	27
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Court quashes 1953 murder conviction, The Independent (London UK), December 20, 2000"
Information Location 1:	http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/court-quashes-1953-murder-conviction-626327.html
Information Source 2:	Innocent UK website
Information Location 2:	http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/
Information Source 3:	"Recent Case Statatistics, Criminal Cases Review Commission"
Information Location 3:	http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/latestnews/latestnews_case.html
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Information Location 5:
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Iain Hay Gordon

Charge:

Murder

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

7

Year Crime:

1952

Year Convicted:

1953

Year Cleared:

2000

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Belfast

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Police coerced him with physical and psychological torture techniques into making a false confession.

Innocence Proved By:

"Northern Ireland Court of Appeals quashed conviction on December 20, 2000 after referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission"

Defendant Aided By:

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

27

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Court quashes 1953 murder conviction, The Independent (London UK), December 20, 2000"

Information Location 1:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/court-quashes-1953-murder-conviction-626327.html

Information Source 2:

Innocent UK website

Information Location 2:

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

Information Source 3:

"Recent Case Statatistics, Criminal Cases Review Commission"

Information Location 3:

http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/latestnews/latestnews_case.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: