The miscarriage of justice watchdog has told lawyers representing Jason Moore that a blue top seized from the east London home of a rival suspect will be tested for forensic links to victim Robert Darby.
Jason, serving life after a jury convicted him of murder in 2013, is seeking an appeal through the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after Newsquest uncovered fresh evidence in his case.
In 2022, the CCRC had refused to reinvestigate Jason’s case or order new tests. But now it is investigating Newsquest’s new evidence, it has ordered them after all.
“While we are obviously very happy to hear the CCRC has finally ordered the tests, it is also frustrating because they refused us the same tests just a few years ago,” said his sister Kirstie.
“It smacks of another missed opportunity, like Andrew Malkinson. If they find something, it’ll be something they could have found back in 2022 and saved Jason an extra three years in prison for something he didn’t do.”
Mr Malkinson, from Manchester, spent 17 years in prison – based on eyewitness evidence – for a rape which DNA tests eventually proved he had not committed.
An independent review last year found he could have been spared up to ten of those years if the CCRC had ordered DNA tests, but it repeatedly failed to do so.
Robert Darby, from the Isle of Dogs, was stabbed in the heart outside the Valentine pub in Perth Road, Gants Hill, in August 2005 (Image: The Darby family) Robert, from the Isle of Dogs, was stabbed to death outside the Valentine pub in Perth Road, Gants Hill, in August 2005.
Seven years later, in 2012, an eyewitness picked Jason from a head and shoulders photo line-up as the killer.
The same witness had rejected Jason in a 2005 line-up and told police the stabber was 5’10” with a shaved head, whereas Jason was 6’4” in bare feet and had a mop of thick, brown hair.
But Jason’s defence did not make much of the very different descriptions at trial and a jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty.
In 2021, retired Metropolitan Police murder detectives submitted a lengthy report to the CCRC, raising concerns about the eyewitness’s reliability and calling for new DNA tests.
Two eyewitnesses told police the man who fought with Robert wore a blue zip-up sports jacket, whereas CCTV from the day shows Jason neither wearing nor carrying any such jacket.
However, when police raided the home of a different suspect in 2005, days after the stabbing, they seized what was described as a “blue sports top”.
Retired murder cops, whose private investigation firm TM Eye reinvestigated Jason’s case for free, realised tapings from the seized blue top had never been tested for DNA.
The CCRC refused in 2022 to order the new tests, but since the damning findings over the Malkinson case it has ordered a major review to find cases where DNA possibilities may have been missed.
In the meantime, Newsquest had tracked down the eyewitness who had picked Jason as the killer and recorded an interview with him.
He admitted being “drunk” when he witnessed the stabbing and said he was not sure he had picked the right man.
Even Robert’s family believe Jason is innocent and want him released. His brother Tim, from Havering, helps run the Free Jason Moore campaign.
“I have confirmed the location of the relevant items and I am in the process of obtaining the necessary quotes for the work,” they wrote.
The CCRC had refused the testing in 2022 after misunderstanding and misstating the evidence in Jason’s case, wrongly claiming two eyewitnesses had implicated him rather than one.
“As much as it’s good news, it’s also a kick in the teeth because they should have done it back then,” said Kirstie.
“It makes your blood boil when you think about it.”
The CCRC does not comment on active applications like Jason’s.
It has previously apologised for the mistakes made in the Malkinson case.
