Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell visited Jason Moore behind bars before Christmas – the first time they had met since she joined the campaign to quash his conviction in 2023.
She said his huge size was so stark that it left her even more convinced the case against him was “nonsense”.
Jason, from Canary Wharf, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years after being convicted in 2013 of murdering Robert Darby.
There were only two eyewitnesses to Robert’s 2005 stabbing in Perth Road, Gants Hill. Both told police the stabber was the same height as Robert (5’11”) or slightly shorter.
Jason is 6’4” in bare feet – but at trial, it was never made clear that he was so much taller than the man both witnesses described.
Bishop Joanne said she found Jason Moore a ‘gentle’ person who was concerned for the welfare of his fellow prisoners at HMP Oakwood (Image: Kirstie Moore) “The prisoners get the chance to have their photos taken with any visitors, so we did that,” said Bishop Joanne after visiting Jason at HMP Oakwood with his sister Kirstie.
“I was standing next to Jason in front of the backdrop that they put up and it made me realise just how tall he is.
“I knew it in theory – but he’s so tall that his head goes above the top of the backdrop. I’m 5’8” and he is way taller than me. He’s nowhere near close to my height.
“How anyone could think this is someone who is 5’10” – it just beggars belief. And that’s what this whole case is based on – so it was a stark reminder of how unjust this case is.
“That someone picked him out in an identity parade and could somehow believe he was the 5’10”, thin-faced man that had been described – it’s absolute nonsense.
“To go to prison on evidence like that made me really angry for Jason.”
It was not only the height that did not match. The stabber was described as having shaved hair and wearing a blue jacket, whereas CCTV shows Jason sporting a grey sweatshirt and long, thick hair.
Jason was charged and taken to trial when one of the two witnesses picked him from a line-up seven years after the crime, from a photo that didn’t show his height.
It is now known police had already shown the witness Jason’s photo before that line-up. Multiple eyewitness identification experts say it should therefore never have taken place.
No other evidence ever linked Jason to the killing, and the eyewitness has since admitted being “drunk” when he witnessed the stabbing, saying he might have picked the wrong person. He claims police knew all along he was drunk.
That interview has now been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in the hope it will refer Jason’s case to the Court of Appeal.
Even the victim Robert’s family believe Jason is innocent and want him released.
Robert’s older brother Tim, from Havering, is a leading light of the Free Jason Moore campaign.
Bishop Joanne – whose diocese includes Tower Hamlets, where both Jason and Robert hailed from – backed the Free Jason Moore campaign after being jointly approached by both families.
She found him “a gentle, thoughtful person” during her visit.
“He’s concerned for other people in the prison,” she said. “He described to me the mental health difficulties of people in other cells, who bang their heads on their cell doors all night.
“I found him to be really likeable, but someone who clearly is frustrated at having been in prison for 11 years for something he didn’t do.
“We talked about some next steps in the case; about our concerns about the CCRC’s lack of urgency in tracking down the eyewitness who said he was drunk.
“We also talked about caring for his sister Kirstie. He knows that this is taking up her whole life and he really feels for her.
“I gave him a small wooden holding cross to let him know that he is remembered in prayer.
“I think he appreciated knowing that people outside care about him and are keeping the story alive, because I think in prison you can’t really get a sense of that and you can feel like you’ve been forgotten.”
The CCRC does not comment on live applications. The Metropolitan Police has said the case is closed but it would review any new information.
