'I served 17 years in jail for a horrific rape I didn't commit -and now the DNA evidence proves it'
| Published date | 02 May 2021 |
That was 2004.
Andy could have walked free from prison after just six-and-a-half years -but refused the opportunity to cut his sentence short by admitting the offence.
He was eventually freed by the parole board in December aged 55 and is now campaigning to clear his name with the help of law charity APPEAL.
And Andy's legal team hailed a major breakthrough this week when a High Court judge agreed his case can proceed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission CCRC.
The CCRC is an independent body that investigates miscarriages of justice and has the power to send cases back to the Court of Appeal where the conviction can be overturned.
Andy's lawyers claim GMP carried out a flawed investigation and that not only do they need to admit what went wrong -but catch the real rapist.
'I'm so glad this monster is locked away'
The 33-year-old victim was attacked as she was walking from her boyfriend's home in Atherton, Wigan, to her own address in Kearsley, Bolton, in the early hours of 19 July, 2003.
She was on Cleggs Lane when she was approached from behind by a man who dragged her down an embankment into some bushes near the M61 motorway.
He strangled her until she lost consciousness before raping and seriously assaulting her.
Ten days after the attack, GMP detectives put out an e-fit of the suspect based on the victim's description.
An appeal published in the Manchester Evening News at the time included plenty of detail.
The suspect was described as being in his early to mid 30s, with olive skin and 5ft 8in tall.
He was 'of medium build, with a flat stomach and defined chest muscles. He had a shiny hairless chest and was clean-shaven', police said.
He had dark brown or black hair, which was thick and wavy and he spoke with a Bolton accent, the report added.
Two neighbourhood police officers in Little Hulton believed the description matched Andrew Malkinson.
They had spoken to him four weeks before the rape after stopping an off-road motorbike on which he was the pillion passenger.
They alerted senior officers and Andy, a security guard and former amateur boxer, was arrested.
He was charged after the victim then picked him out as her attacker in an identity parade.
Originally from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, Andy had been living in a flat close to where the woman was attacked.
Following a trial, Andy was found guilty of...
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