Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
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Years Imprisoned: |
9 |
Year Crime: |
1976 |
Year Convicted: |
1977 |
Year Cleared: |
2005 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Ireland |
County or Region of Crime: |
Northern Ireland |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Richard Hanna (aka Hugh Hanna) was co-defendant of Robert Hindes. Both men were wrongly convicted in 1977 of a 1976 murder in Northern Ireland, based on false confessions by both defendants after being intimidated by hours of police interrogation. Hindes was 14 and Hanna was 15 at the time of the confessions. There was no other evidence tying the defendants to the murder. Both defendants were released from prison in 1986. It was subsequently learned after a reinvestigation was begun in the late 2003 that the murder was actually carried out by a UDA gang known as the Bedroom Killers, and the two defendants had nothing to do with the crime. Convictions quashed on January 19, 2005 by the Court of Appeals after being referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on Nov. 4, 2003. Richard Hanna had first applied to the CCRC in 1997 for review of his conviction. Hindes applied to the CCRC in 2001. Hanna committed suicide in March 2004, and Robert Hindes was too sick to attend the hearing at which the convictions of both men were quashed. Both men were wrongly imprisoned for nine years." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Conviction quashed on January 19, 2005 by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal after being referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on Nov. 4, 2003." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
16 |
Age When Released: |
25 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Pair finally get justice almost 30 years on Quashed murder conviction is too late for suicide victim, Jonathan McCambridge and Judi Madden, Belfast Telegram, January 20, 2005" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=602712 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org