A man who has been cleared of a rape by the Court of Appeal has spoken of his first night of freedom.
Andrew Malkinson, whose conviction was overturned on Monday, was released on licence two years ago but spoke of the “joy” of the last 24 hours.
But he told the Today programme that his joy was also tempered by anger.
Mr Malkinson, 57, was jailed in 2004 for the attack on a woman in Salford, serving 17 years in prison.
Mr Malkinson said he felt “joy at finally telling the world the truth” but he added he also felt “anger that I was even tried for this, arrested”.
His case was referred to the Court of Appeal in January after new evidence pointed to another potential suspect.
Greater Manchester Police has confirmed the suspect was rearrested and released pending further investigation.
‘Emotionally taxing’
Mr Malkinson, who is originally from Grimsby, revealed to BBC Newsnight that he banned his mum and sister from coming to see him while he was in prison with sex offenders
“My mother had her son convicted of a horrific rape – if you saw the newspaper headlines, emotive case – she suffered immensely.
“I wouldn’t let [my mother and sister] visit me – it’s too emotionally taxing, even if it’s once a month.
“They’d be treated like [prisoners].”
He also spoke of his sympathy for the original rape victim.
“She’s been let down,” he said.
“She thought that I was the perpetrator because she was traumatised when she picked me out of the parade.”
Emily Bolton, director of the legal charity Appeal, questioned why it has taken nearly 20 years for Mr Malkinson’s case to be overturned.
“The truth is this case is an indictment of both the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cases Review Commission,” she said.
“These so-called ‘safety nets’ in our justice system missed three earlier opportunities to put this obvious miscarriage of justice right.”
BBC NEWS
