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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
4 |
Year Crime: |
1988 |
Year Convicted: |
1990 |
Year Cleared: |
1992 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
Scotland |
City of Crime: |
Cardiff |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Tony Paris was a codefendant of Yusef Abdullahi and Steven Miller. The media dubbed the three men the Cardiff Three. Twenty-year-old prostitute Lynette White was murdered on February 14 -- Valentine's Day -- 1988, by being stabbed more than 50 times. Stephen Miller was the boyfriend and pimp of Ms. White. Miller was coerced into falsely confessing to the murder of Ms. White after 13 continuous hours of being shouted at and threatened by police interrogators. His false confession implicated his two codefendants who were likewise innocent. Once he confessed, the police stopped investigating promising leads that may have led to the killer. The three men were convicted in December 1990 and sentence to life in prison. The convictions of all three codefendants were quashed by England's Court of Appeal in 1992 and they were released after 4 years in custody. Six years after their release journalist Satish Sekar, who had aided in the release of the men, published a book about the case -- "Fitted In - The Cardiff Three and the Lynette White Inquiry." As a result of the information in the book Ms. White's murder case was re-opened in June 1999. In 2003 DNA testing of crime scene evidence identified Jeffrey Gafoor Ms White's murderer. Gafoor was one of Ms. White's clients. He pled guilty to her murder in 2003 and was sentenced to life in prison. In December 2008 three witnesses who gave false evidence at the trial of the Cardiff Three were jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to perjury. In March 2009 two more witnesses at the trial were charged with perjury, and 13 police officers involved in the original investigation of the murder were charged with perverting the course of justice for their actions that amounted to framing the three innocent men for the crime. It was disclosed during the corruption trial of eight police officers involved in the investigation of White's death in 1988 that Miller was paid £571,000 in compensation. The eight former police officers were on trial charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice." |
Conviction Caused By: |
False confession by Stephen Miller to the murder of a prostitute after 13 continuous hours of being shouted at and threatened by police interrogators. His false confession implicated his two co-defendants in the crime. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"The convictions of all three codefendants were quashed by England's Court of Appeal in 1992 and they were released. In 2003 DNA evidence led to another man, Jeffrey Gafoor, being convicted of Ms White's murder and sentenced to life in prison." |
Defendant Aided By: |
"The men's campaign was helped greatly by the journalist Satish Sekar. Six years after their release Sekar published a book about the case, "Fitted In - The Cardiff Three and the Lynette White Inquiry," that resulted in reopening of the case in June 1999." |
Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
30 |
Age When Released: |
34 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
Innocent UK website |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Thirteen police officers charged over wrongful murder convictions of Cardiff Three, By Charlotte Gill, Daily Mail (London), March 3, 2009" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158933/Thirteen-police-officers-charged-wrongful-murder-convictions-Cardiff-Three.html# |
Information Source 3: |
"Life for Lynette White murder, BBC News, July 4, 2003" |
Information Location 3: |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3044282.stm |
Information Source 4: |
"Lynette White corruption trial: Boyfriend received £571,000 for conviction error, Wales Online, September 27, 2011" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/09/27/lynette-white-corruption-trial-boyfriend-received-571-000-for-conviction-error-91466-29495992/ |
Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Book About Case: |
"Fitted In' - The Cardiff Three and the Lynette White Inquiry by Satish Sekar (London - The Fitted-In Project, 1998)" |
Book Information: |
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org