Not guilty

[tankie]

A man who has spent 27 years behind bars for murder has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. Sean Hodgson has spent 27 years in jail for the murder of barmaid Teresa De Simone
Sean Hodgson, now 57, was present in the dock to hear the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other senior judges in London, rule that his 1982 conviction was "unsafe".

The safety of the conviction was reviewed in the light of new DNA evidence - which showed that he could not have been the murderer.

Mr Hodgson was sentenced to life for the 1979 murder of 22-year-old gas board clerk and part-time barmaid Teresa De Simone, who was found strangled in Southampton.

Lord Judge said that 27 years after his conviction it would now "be quashed". He added: "It is unsafe."

At the time of Mr Hodgson's trial, DNA tests were not available, with the world's first use of such evidence in court not taking place until 1986 in Leicester.

But in November last year, following requests from Mr Hodgson's legal representatives, Hampshire Police and the Forensic Science Service undertook a comprehensive forensic case review and examination of material, including DNA testing on samples collected at the time of the murder.

In the light of new evidence, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) decided to refer Mr Hodgson's case to the Court of Appeal because it considered that there was a "real possibility that the court would consider the conviction unsafe and quash it".

The court heard that DNA evidence found at the scene did not match a sample given by Mr Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson, who is also known as Robert Graham Hodgson and is originally from County Durham, made various confessions to police before pleading not guilty at his trial at Winchester Crown Court.




Interesting to see if he receives any compensation. The law now says he,s not guilty ,, tragic for a life wasted , and i wonder if the real Murderer is still alive ,, bet his/her sphincter is puckering a tad if they are .

[AdvanXer]

A man who has spent 27 years behind bars for murder has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. Sean Hodgson has spent 27 years in jail for the murder of barmaid Teresa De Simone
Sean Hodgson, now 57, was present in the dock to hear the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other senior judges in London, rule that his 1982 conviction was "unsafe".

The safety of the conviction was reviewed in the light of new DNA evidence - which showed that he could not have been the murderer.

Mr Hodgson was sentenced to life for the 1979 murder of 22-year-old gas board clerk and part-time barmaid Teresa De Simone, who was found strangled in Southampton.

Lord Judge said that 27 years after his conviction it would now "be quashed". He added: "It is unsafe."

At the time of Mr Hodgson's trial, DNA tests were not available, with the world's first use of such evidence in court not taking place until 1986 in Leicester.

But in November last year, following requests from Mr Hodgson's legal representatives, Hampshire Police and the Forensic Science Service undertook a comprehensive forensic case review and examination of material, including DNA testing on samples collected at the time of the murder.

In the light of new evidence, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) decided to refer Mr Hodgson's case to the Court of Appeal because it considered that there was a "real possibility that the court would consider the conviction unsafe and quash it".

The court heard that DNA evidence found at the scene did not match a sample given by Mr Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson, who is also known as Robert Graham Hodgson and is originally from County Durham, made various confessions to police before pleading not guilty at his trial at Winchester Crown Court.




Interesting to see if he receives any compensation. The law now says he,s not guilty ,, tragic for a life wasted , and i wonder if the real Murderer is still alive ,, bet his/her sphincter is puckering a tad if they are .

How do you pay back 27 years of injustice? This is horrible.

[entropy]

No compensation. Oopsie, the govahment made a mistake. Sorry and have a nice day.

[tankie]

No compensation. Oopsie, the govahment made a mistake. Sorry and have a nice day.

Your probably right , i hope your wrong tho ,, have a look at this one , dontcha just love the Police huh .:(






The Metropolitan Police has agreed to pay £60,000 damages to a terror suspect after admitting in the High Court that arresting officers subjected him to a prolonged series of assaults and religious abuse.
Babar Ahmad, a 34-year-old IT support analyst, was in court to hear lawyers for Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson concede that he was the victim of gratuitous violence by territorial support group officers during an arrest at his home in Tooting, south west London, in December 2003.

One of the unnamed officers allegedly involved is to face criminal proceedings, Mr Justice Holroyde heard.

The court heard that Ahmad was never charged with any offences arising out of his arrest.

But his circumstances changed profoundly in August 2004 when he was arrested pursuant to a request made by the US government, and he had been detained in Long Lartin prison ever since awaiting a decision on whether his extradition would contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

The arresting officers had been briefed that Ahmad, who had worked at Imperial College for six years and was married, was believed to be connected to al Qaida and was the head of a south London terrorist group.

Ahmad's brother-in-law, Fahad Ahmad, read out a statement on his behalf which said he was pleased that the Metropolitan Police had accepted that its officers subjected him to "physical abuse".

"This abuse took place not in Guantanamo Bay or a secret torture chamber but in Tooting, south London.

"I can now put this incident behind me and focus on the fight to prevent my extradition to the United States."

He added that he hoped that the UK Government would now acknowledge that it had been wrong to detain him in prison for without trial for five years, and that his case had been a lesson.

[Merlin]

A man who has spent 27 years behind bars for murder has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Interesting to see if he receives any compensation. The law now says he,s not guilty ,, .

Perhaps he'll get something from the media if he sells his story.

[dave lukins]

Perhaps he'll get something from the media if he sells his story.

Yes he will. One of the first questions will be, "Why on earth did you admit to murder in the first place"?

[tankie]

Yes he will. One of the first questions will be, "Why on earth did you admit to murder in the first place"?

Thats the thing isnt it Nuts ,, why .

[snowhole]

I don't think the court has to have him say "yes I did it" to make him guilty does it? Well I don't know much about British courts but that's my assumption.

[Inst]

How central was the DNA evidence to the case? This could still be a miscarriage of justice and the man could still be guilty.

[Donnie]

I don't think the court has to have him say "yes I did it" to make him guilty does it? Well I don't know much about British courts but that's my assumption.

no, but he apparently had confessed, then later pleaded not guilty

[dave lukins]

I don't think the court has to have him say "yes I did it" to make him guilty does it? Well I don't know much about British courts but that's my assumption.

Yes, it's probably the same in China;):)

[omon]

better question is, real killer is at large for 27 years

[snowhole]

Yes, it's probably the same in China;):)

Well in China it's probably worse. Suspects would probably be sentenced to death if it's a murder (in Mr Hodgson's case it was rape + murder, a definite death penalty). I happen to know one murder case that was later to be determined false, poor family.

Anyway, I didn't read this paragraph of the story so I didn't know that he did confess. Really weird.

Mr Hodgson, who is also known as Robert Graham Hodgson and is originally from Tow Law in County Durham, made various confessions to police before pleading not guilty at his trial at Winchester Crown Court.

[snowhole]

better question is, real killer is at large for 27 years

Zodiac comes to mind... Is that story real?

[Bigfella]

This whole case is a pretty handy argument against the Death penalty.