Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Frank Newell

 

Charge:

Robbery (includes armed robbery)

Sentence:

4 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

Year Crime:

1973

Year Convicted:

1973

Year Cleared:

2014

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

Northern Ireland

City of Crime:

Lisburn

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Frank Newell was wrongly convicted of the robbery in 1973 of a post office in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Newell was prosecuted based on his attempt to conceal that his taxi had been stolen on the day of the robbery and his identification by witnesses After his conviction following a bench trial (judge sitting without a jury), Newell was sentenced to four years in prison. Newell protested his innocence, and in 2009 the contacted the human rights group, the Committee on the Administration of Justice. After their investigation he contacted the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which determined his conviction was a miscarriage of justice based on the prosecution's non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence, and referred it to the Court of Appeal. On June 16, 2014 the Court of Appeals quashed Newell's conviction on the basis of the prosecution's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence to his trial counsel that encompassed three categories of information: 1) Alibi statements by colleagues that he was at the taxi depot where he worked on the day of the robbery; 2) Discrepancies in witness identification statements; 3) Police reports poiniting to both Newell's innocence and that the real robbers where connected to the Ulster Volunteer Force -- which Newell wasn't a member of. The Court stated that Newell's case never should have went to trial, and that when it did he shouldn't have been convicted."

Conviction Caused By:

Prosecution misconduct of concealing exculpatory witness statements and police reports.

Innocence Proved By:

"On June 16, 2014 the Northern Ireland Court of Appeals quashed Newell's conviction on the basis of the prosecution's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence to his trial counsel"

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

32

Age When Released:

34

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Frank Newell 'vindicated' after court quashes conviction, By Staff writers, BBC News (Northern Ireland), June 17, 2014"

Information Location 1:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27883129

Information Source 2:

"Frank Newell, 73, wins 40-year fight to clear name, By Staff writers, BBC News (Northern Ireland), June 16, 2014"

Information Location 2:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27874617

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

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