MPs published a report today (May 23) saying Karen Kneller’s position as chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was untenable.
Jason Moore, currently serving life for a murder he insists he did not commit, welcomed the report, saying the CCRC had left him “in the depths of despair”.
“Innocent people and their families pinned their hopes on these people for justice,” he said via his sister Kirstie.
“Their job was to make justice fair and correct the mistakes when they occurred. In this they have failed miserably.”
Jason Moore, from Canary Wharf, was charged with murder in 2012 because one eyewitness picked him from a photo line-up seven years after a Gants Hill murder. He insists he is innocent – and the eyewitness has since changed his story (Image: Moore family)
Criticisms
The Justice Committee found the CCRC – created to investigate and overturn wrongful convictions – had grown too close to government, failing to challenge its shrinking budget, MPs said.
Over 20 years, it experienced a real-terms budget cut of 44%.
Newsquest exclusively revealed in February that the average CCRC investigator was now trying to juggle 23 cases, with one allocated 45 cases. Meanwhile, the body didn’t have enough commissioners to rule on cases because it couldn’t pay enough to attract good candidates.
An evidence session in Parliament last month saw CCRC chiefs also admit they had delayed publishing a damning report so it wouldn’t impact last year’s general election.
The report found innocent man Andrew Malkinson had spent up to ten avoidable years in prison because the CCRC repeatedly failed to test DNA which ultimately proved him innocent of rape.
The CCRC’s chair initially refused to resign but finally quit six months later. However, chief executive Mrs Kneller remained.
Quizzed by MPs last month, she suggested the delayed publication of the report was also partly due to “typographical errors” and “factual issues”.
After watching her testimony, its author Chris Henley KC wrote to MPs calling her claims “thoroughly misleading”.
“Misleading” testimony
Mr Henley said he’d been asked to “change the language, or particular words, because the CCRC was anxious about criticism”.
He said it was “obvious that the CCRC’s overriding concern was to limit the negative impact the report would have”.
Mrs Kneller denied his claims, but MPs were “not persuaded”.
“The information provided since the session establishes that Karen Kneller omitted important information that would have provided a more accurate account of how the CCRC handled the Henley report,” they wrote.
“As a result of our concerns regarding the performance of the CCRC and the unpersuasive evidence Karen Kneller provided to the committee, we no longer feel that it is tenable for her to continue as chief executive.”
The CCRC refused to respond to that conclusion or let us put it to Mrs Kneller directly.
East End murder
Jason Moore, from Canary Wharf, was jailed for life in 2013 for the Ilford murder of Robert Darby, after being picked from a photo line-up by a single eyewitness, seven years after the crime.
No forensic evidence linked him to the crime.
In 2023, Newsquest revealed the eyewitness now said he’d been drunk when he witnessed Robert’s stabbing and wasn’t sure he he’d identified the right culprit.
Even Robert’s family – led by his brother Tim, from Havering – are campaigning to quash Jason’s conviction.
In late 2023, our interview with the eyewitness was handed to the CCRC. Jason has been awaiting a decision ever since. The last he heard, the CCRC had still not even spoken to the eyewitness.
A previous application was rejected in 2022 after the CCRC wrongly claimed two eyewitnesses had implicated Jason, not one. When the error was pointed out, it refused to correct it.
Sister
Jason’s sister Kirstie said the CCRC needed new leadership “with the guts to tear down what’s broken and stand up for the innocent”.
“I urge Karen Kneller to reflect on the impact of her decisions – not just on her career, but on the lives of those still waiting to be heard,” she said.
“It’s not too late to do the right thing: step aside and allow the CCRC to become the organisation it was meant to be.”
The CCRC said it noted the report’s recommendations.
“We look forward to an announcement on the appointment of an interim chair and to working with them in an organisation deeply committed to finding, investigating and referring potential miscarriages of justice,” its press office said.
