Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
"Fraud (passing bad checks, documents, casino, bankrupcy, etc.)" |
Sentence: |
2-1/2 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.875 |
Year Crime: |
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Year Convicted: |
2005 |
Year Cleared: |
2007 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
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Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
Steve Sampson was a co-defendant of William Hurley and Andrew Watts. The three businessmen were wrongly convicted in September 2005 of various counts related to their alleged theft and falsification of documents from an alleged environmental tax credit scheme for landfill waste. More than £1m in grants and fees were said to have been manipulated through false invoices and kickback arrangements. All three men protested their innocence throughout their seven month trial that was blacked-out from press coverage. Sampson and Watts were sentenced to 2-1/2 years imprisonment and Hurley was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. In May 2007 the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of all three men on the grounds that the trial judge's jury instructions were no clear enough for the jury to have made an informed decision. All three men had finished serving their sentences at the time of their exoneration. |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
In May 2007 the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of all three men on the grounds that the trial judge's jury instructions were no clear enough for the jury to have made an informed decision. |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"Paradise Boss Fraud Conviction Quashed, Hoddesdon and Broxbourne Mercury, June 1, 2007" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.hertsessexnews.co.uk/news/mercury/hoddesdon_mercury/2007/06/paradise%20boss%20fraud%20conviction%20quashed.lpf |
Information Source 2: |
"Cleared jail dad's "living nightmare", Harts and Essex Observer, June 1, 2007" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.herts-essex-news.co.uk/news/observer/2007/05/31/cleared%20jail%20dads%20living%20nightmare.lpf |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org