Despite exculpatory DNA – This man spent 17 years innocently behind bars

As the BBC and the Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing court documents, several judicial authorities knew by 2009 at the latest that DNA from another, unknown man had been found on the victim’s clothing. But they allegedly decided not to reopen the case on their own – apparently because they felt the expense didn’t justify the effort.

Sentences increased by 10 years for pleading innocence
Andrew Malkinson was sentenced to at least seven years in prison for rape. His sentence was extended by ten years for being unreasonable and emphasizing his innocence. It wasn’t until late July 2023 that an appeals court overturned the verdict after a DNA sample revealed another perpetrator.

Exculpatory DNA evidence as far back as 2007
As far back as 2007, forensic scientists used new technology to examine the victim’s clothing in the Malkinson case, the reports said. They found saliva on the vest. Several database searches turned up no matches – this is proof that the DNA cannot be from Malkinson.

“Extremely Expensive”: Researchers did not want to continue testing
Although the Public Prosecution Service noted that the saliva must come from the perpetrator, it advised against personal initiative. When Malkinson took his case to the Criminal Case Review Commission, investigators questioned whether the foreign DNA was an important lead and stressed that further testing would be “extremely expensive.”

Although the clothing was subsequently destroyed, the DNA sample was left in an archive. When Malkinson’s lawyers had their own tests carried out in 2019, according to the BBC, there was actually a hit: the DNA profile of the real perpetrator had now entered a database.