BBC online - Evidence-Based Justice Lab online - True Crime/Evidence of Evil TV -
The body of Rachel Manning, 19, was found dumped on a Milton Keynes golf course in 2000.
In 2002, Barri White was convicted of murder and his friend Keith Hyatt of perverting the course of justice.
Both had their convictions quashed in 2007. Six years on restaurant worker Shahidul Ahmed has been found guilty of her murder.
The verdict goes some way to repairing the damage, but the emotional wounds caused by the senseless murder of Rachel, and the subsequent miscarriage of justice which followed, will probably never heal. BBC online article Mark Daly 4th September 2013
Barri White was convicted of the murder of his 19 year old girlfriend (Rachel Manning), after a party (and his friend Keith Hyatt was convicted of perverting the course of justice for allegedly helping him to dispose of the body). The convictinon was largely based on scientific evidence that was called into question on appeal. A forensic expert, Kenneth Pye, had said an unusual combination of flint particles from a cigarette lighter were found on Rachel’s skirt and the van seat. But experts found the particles could have come from anywhere, particularly as Barri, Keith and Rachel all smoked. The conviction was overturned and White was found not guilty at a retrial. DNA evidence later proved the person really guilty of the murder was Shahidul Ahmed, who has now been convicted. Evidence-Based Justice Lab online article
December 2000, Milton Keynes: A greenkeeper is shocked to discover the body of a young woman in the undergrowth on a golf course. The victim 19-year-old Rachel Manning murdered, beaten repeatedly and also unrecognisably with a steering lock. In the subsequent investigation police follow a specific line of inquiry, linking their main suspects to the crime, eventually convicting them. But the conviction is overturned. True Crime/Evidence of Evil, CBS Reality/ITVX, Crime Channel/Youtube 45.00, 2018
To most experts the prosecuting hypothesis seemed ludicrous. ibid.
The matter of Rachel Manning’s murder eventually came to the attention of BBC television investigative programme Rough Justice. ibid.
The were clearly significant questions marks about the whole forensic process. ibid.
‘It would take another three years [post Rough Justice] to get me home.’ ibid. Barri
At the subsequent retrial Barri was acquitted. Both Barri White and Keith Hyatt were now free. ibid.