Real Crime: Picking Up the Pieces 2021 - Evidence-Based Justice Lab -
‘They took that choice away from he to be what I wanted to be.’ Real Crime: Picking Up the Pieces 2021
‘Robert Brown, Britain’s longest serving victim of a miscarriage of justice has had his conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal today but only after a quarter of a century in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.’ ibid. TV news
When Robert Brown was 19 year old he was convicted for the murder of Annie Walsh and sentenced to life imprisonment. His conviction was on the basis of a written confession. Robert would always claim that this confession was beaten out of him by the Manchester police. It would take 25 years, 2 appeals and a secret police report to free him. ibid.
‘They buried documentation for almost twenty years that could have cleared my name.’ ibid. Brown
The classified Topping report detailed widespread corruption. Intimately involved was Detective Inspector Jack Butler, the man Robert Brown blames for beating the confession out of him. ibid.
Robert was released four months ago and has done more than a hundred press interviews. He’s moved back to his hometown Glasgow. ibid.
He was moved more than 74 times in 25 years. ibid.
He refused to take parole and admit guilt. ibid.
We leave the prison but the prison never leaves us. ibid. Paddy Hill
In the last two months Robert has been completely frustrated by bureaucratic red tape. ibid.
Robert Brown was convicted of the murder of Annie Walsh who was found beaten to death in her flat. He was convicted primarily on the basis of a confession. Brown had been refused a solicitor. It was revealed on appeal that the police had used violence and the officer involved was later imprisoned for corruption. It was found that the confession was fabricated and should not have been introduced and the conviction was deemed unsafe. Evidence-Based Justice Lab online