Rape conviction quashed for man who spent 17 years in jail

A man who served 17 years in prison had his rape conviction overturned after fresh DNA evidence emerged linking another suspect to the crime.
Andrew Malkinson, now 57, was jailed for life with a minimum term of seven years in 2004 after he was found guilty of the attack on a woman in Salford, Greater Manchester - but he stayed in jail for another decade because he maintained his innocence.
No DNA evidence linked him to the crime, with the prosecution case based solely on contested eyewitness identification.
His case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis of new DNA evidence that identified another suspect, only identifiable as Mr B, who has since been arrested.
The appeal was uncontested and Mr Malkinson's convictions - two counts of rape and one of choking or strangling with intent to commit rape - were overturned by a panel of senior judges sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.
Lord Justice Holroyde, who heard the case with Mr Justice Goose and Sir Robin Spencer, said: "Having considered for ourselves the new evidence and its effect we have no doubt that the new evidence shows the convictions to be unsafe."
He told Mr Malkinson: "Having waited so many years, you leave the court a free man."
The judges said they would give their decision on further grounds of appeal - involving disclosure issues surrounding the contested identification evidence - at a later date.
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