Greater Manchester Police said they are “truly sorry” for wrongfully convicting a man to 17 years in prison for the rape of a woman in Salford.
Andrew Malkinson was wrongfully convicted for the rape of a woman in Little Hulton in 2004.
A jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty in a 10-2 verdict of two counts of rape and attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle with intent to commit rape. He was however found not guilty of attempted murder.
In a statement published this morning, Sarah Jackson, Assistant Chief Constable for GMP said: “We remain truly sorry that Mr Malkinson has been the victim of such a grave miscarriage of justice due to the failures of our original investigation.
“It is beyond doubt that Mr Malkinson did not commit this horrific crime. Our ongoing investigation is committed to ensuring that the true perpetrator is put behind bars.”
Following the nine and a half hour deliberation of the jury, Malkinson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of six and a half years. He appealed his conviction in 2006, 2009 and in 2018 but was denied on all occasions.
We’re truly sorry for our failures that led to Andrew Malkinson’s wrongful conviction
The issues raised in tonight’s BBC documentary are part of the ongoing inquiry we’re fully co-operating with
We must bring the true offender to justice. We’ve recently passed a file to the CPS pic.twitter.com/8N4wZCmDCy
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) June 6, 2024
Samples in 2007 that were taken from the victim found that another man’s DNA, something that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were made aware of by December 2009. The CPS declined to review the case however, on grounds of cost-benefit reasons despite the potentially exonerating evidence.
Andrew Malkinson was eventually released from prison in 2020 for good behaviour. A year later, Andrew made another appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the following year a man was arrested in connection with the original crime. The commission referred the case for appeal and the conviction was quashed by the court of appeal in July 2023.
The public statement from GMP comes as a documentary, examining the miscarriage of Andrew Malkinson’s case is set to air tonight (June 6) titled “The wrong man: 17 years behind bars.”
Mr Malkinson recently wrote in The Guardian that he has been having to use foodbanks since his release from prison.
Andrew wrote that “Given what the state owes me, I should not be in this position.” Malkinson, originally from Grimsby, was eventually given a council flat in the south of England.
The documentary will be airing on BBC Two at 9pm tonight and will be available on BBC iPlayer.
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