A man who has served 17 years of a life sentence for attempted rape has had his conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal. Peter Wilcock QC demonstrated that the conviction was unsafe after fresh DNA evidence came to light.
Former postman Victor Nealon had been convicted of the attack in 1997. At the time he had voluntarily provided a DNA sample, of which no traces were found on the victim's clothing. However, fresh evidence revealed the presence of another man's DNA on the clothing. This caused the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.
In court, Peter argued that this clearly indicated the potential for another suspect, and that had the trial jury been aware of this, they may well have been uncertain that the defendant was the attacker.
The three Court of Appeal judges concurred and quashed the conviction.
Peter was instructed by Mark Newby of Jordans Solicitors.
The case has been widely reported in the media, including by the BBC and in The Guardian.
Peter Wilcock QC is a member of the Garden Court Crime Team.
