Ellis Sherwood

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Charge:	Murder and Robbery
Sentence:	Life Imprisonment
Years Imprisoned:	12
Year Crime:	1987
Year Convicted:	1988
Year Cleared:	1999
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	United Kingdom
County or Region of Crime:	Wales
City of Crime:	Cardiff
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Ellis Sherwood was a codefendant of Michael O'Brien & Darren Hall. The three men were known as the 'Cardiff Newsagent Three,' wrongly convicted of robbing and murdering newsagent Phillip Saunders in Cardiff, Wales in October 1987. Misconduct by the police was used to secure an alleged but unsubstantiated confession by Darren Hall that was used by the prosecution to secure their conviction. The Criminal Case Review Commission referred the convictions of Sherwood, O'Brien and Hall to the Court of Appeal on October 29, 1998. The Court of Appeals for England and Wales quashed all three co-defendant's convictions on December 17, 1999. The British government billed M. O'Brien £37,000 (pounds) after his release for the cost of his wrongful incarceration. Ellis Sherwood settled a lawsuit for £200,000 ($371,400), that he had filed after his release against the South Wales Police for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. (As of 10-12-2006, the exchange rate between English Pounds and U.S. Dollars was 1 GBP = 1.85702 USD.). Sherwood's co-defendant Michael O'Brien settled the same lawsuit for £300,000. On September 16, 2009 Ellis was awarded £1,391,408.20 (pounds) ($2,302,084.87 at exchange rate of 1.65450 on 09-16-09) by the British Home Office, because of a stroke he suffered after being released from prison. He was been awarded the compensation by the British Home Office after his lawyers were able to show that the stroke, which has left him with impaired speech and limited use of his right arm, was directly related to his prolonged drug abuse in prison after being wrongly jailed for the murder as a teenager."
Conviction Caused By:	"An alleged but unsubstantiated confession by Darren Hall that was used to implicate his two co-defendants in the crime, police misconduct and unreliable of evidence."
Innocence Proved By:	"The Court of Appeals for England and Wales quashed all three co-defendant's convictions on December 17, 1999."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"£200,000 (by 10-12-2006) and £1,391,408.20 ($2,302,084.87 at exchange rate of 1.65450 on 09-16-09)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	19
Age When Released:	31
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Innocent UK website
Information Location 1:	http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/
Information Source 2:	"Case Library, Criminal Cases Review Commission"
Information Location 2:	http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/case-library/
Information Source 3:	"Police pay out nearly £1m to newsagent three, By Anna Hammond, South Wales Echo, October 12, 2006"
Information Location 3:	http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=police-pay-out-nearly--pound-1m-to-newsagent-three&method=full&objectid=17919607&siteid=50082-name_page.html
Information Source 4:	"Cardiff three get £500,000 but no apology from police, By Vikram Dodd, Guardian Unlimited, October 12, 2006"
Information Location 4:	"http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1920149,00.html"
Information Source 5:	"£1.4m compensation for 11 years in jail, By David James (staff), South Wales Echo, November 9, 2009"
Information Location 5:	http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/health-and-beauty-in-wales/2009/11/09/1-4m-compensation-for-11-years-in-jail-91466-25120913/
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):
Book Information (2):
Movie About Case:
Comments About Case:

Go to Database Search Page

Go to Database Index Page

Ellis Sherwood

Charge:

Murder and Robbery

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment

Years Imprisoned:

12

Year Crime:

1987

Year Convicted:

1988

Year Cleared:

1999

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

United Kingdom

County or Region of Crime:

Wales

City of Crime:

Cardiff

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"An alleged but unsubstantiated confession by Darren Hall that was used to implicate his two co-defendants in the crime, police misconduct and unreliable of evidence."

Innocence Proved By:

"The Court of Appeals for England and Wales quashed all three co-defendant's convictions on December 17, 1999."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"£200,000 (by 10-12-2006) and £1,391,408.20 ($2,302,084.87 at exchange rate of 1.65450 on 09-16-09)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

19

Age When Released:

31

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Innocent UK website

Information Location 1:

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

Information Source 2:

"Case Library, Criminal Cases Review Commission"

Information Location 2:

http://www.ccrc.gov.uk/case-library/

Information Source 3:

"Police pay out nearly £1m to newsagent three, By Anna Hammond, South Wales Echo, October 12, 2006"

Information Location 3:

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=police-pay-out-nearly--pound-1m-to-newsagent-three&method=full&objectid=17919607&siteid=50082-name_page.html

Information Source 4:

"Cardiff three get £500,000 but no apology from police, By Vikram Dodd, Guardian Unlimited, October 12, 2006"

Information Location 4:

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1920149,00.html"

Information Source 5:

"£1.4m compensation for 11 years in jail, By David James (staff), South Wales Echo, November 9, 2009"

Information Location 5:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/health-and-beauty-in-wales/2009/11/09/1-4m-compensation-for-11-years-in-jail-91466-25120913/

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: