One of the longest running miscarriages of justice cases in British legal history ended yesterday when Mr Stephen Downing had his murder conviction overturned on appeal after 28 years, writes Rachel Donnelly, in London
His supporters called on the British government to establish an independent inquiry into the case, and Downing (45) could now receive more than £1 million in compensation after the Appeal Court ruled that his 1974 conviction for the murder of Ms Wendy Sewell (32) was "unsafe".
Smiling broadly as he stood on the steps of the Appeal Court, Mr Downing, who was released on bail last February, thanked his family and supporters for standing by him during his 27 years in prison. "I'd just like to thank everyone. They've been absolutely fantastic."
Asked about his feelings toward the Derbyshire police officers who arrested and questioned him, he added: "I've got no qualms with them. They are a different force altogether. It's all in the past. Let's forget it."
The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred Mr Downing's case for appeal after years of campaigning by his family and a series of articles by Don Hale, the former editor of the family's local newspaper, the Matlock Mercury. After the ruling, Mr Hale said he was disappointed the judges had not gone further and declared Mr Downing innocent.
Insisting the case should be re-opened, Mr Hale said: "The real killer is still out there."
The Deputy Chief Constable of Derbyshire Police, Mr Bob Wood, told Channel Four News that while he would "keep an open mind", at present there was "no hard evidence" to substantiate reopening the case.
Ms Sewell's badly beaten body was discovered in September 1973 in the Bakewell churchyard where Downing, who was 17 at the time but had a reading age of an 11-year-old, worked as an attendant. He was arrested and convicted mainly on the basis of a confession obtained after more than seven hours' questioning, during which he was not informed that he was under arrest or told of his right to a solicitor.
After Downing's original minimum sentence expired in 1990 his insistence that he was innocent prevented him from gaining parole and he spent a further 10 years in prison.
The Appeal Court concluded the original trial was unsatisfactory because of the "failure to challenge the admissibility" of Downing's confession and the "substantial and significant breaches" of the rules of questioning suspects.