The Bishop of Stepney, the Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell, has written to Shabanna Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, outlining the decade-long injustice faced by Jason Moore, a man falsely convicted for murder in 2013.
Describing the repeated failings of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in investigating a potential miscarriage of justice, failings which have recently been highlighted in the case of now-exonerated Andrew Malkinson, Bishop Joanne called on the Justice Secretary to take urgent and direct action to review his case.
In 2013, Jason was convicted for the murder of Robert Darby, who died in 2005 as the victim of a fatal stabbing. Jason received an 18 year prison sentence. Ever since, Jason, his family, and the family of Robert Darby, have maintained his innocence. For both families, the state’s inability to identify the actual perpetrator of this crime has had devastating consequences.
Bishop Joanne was approached by both Jason’s and Robert’s families, who live across North and East London, last year. As their Area Bishop, Bishop Joanne strongly identified with the injustices they had faced as a result of the CCRC’s systematic failings.
In her letter, the Bishop described how the CCRC have made mistakes directly preventing Jason from accessing a fair review of the evidence in the case against him.
The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney, said:
“Given the systemic issues which Jason’s case raises about the capacity, competence, and integrity of the CCRC, we are also calling for a review of all outstanding cases that the CCRC has ignored under the previous government.
“It is not just Jason who maintains his innocence, but his family and the victim’s family. That any one of us could be imprisoned under Jason’s circumstances is a disturbing enough thought, but that we would then spend years waiting to even have our case reviewed is harrowing. I hope that the Government will do what its predecessor did not.”
