R (Westlake) v Criminal Cases Review Commission
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | MR JUSTICE STANLEY BURNTON,Mr Justice Collins,MR JUSTICE COLLINS |
| Judgment Date | 17 November 2004 |
| Neutral Citation | [2004] EWHC 2779 (Admin) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 17 November 2004 |
| Docket Number | CO/2857/2004 |
[2004] EWHC 2779 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
DIVISIONAL COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2
Mr Justice Collins And
Mr Justice Stanley Burnton
CO/2857/2004
MR EDWARD FITZGERALD QC AND MISS H WILLIAMS (instructed by Messrs Wansbroughs, Wiltshire) appeared on behalf of the CLAIMANT
MISS BEVERLEY LAING QC (instructed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission) appeared on behalf of the DEFENDANT
Introduction
In these proceedings Mary Westlake, the half sister of Timothy Evans, seeks judicial review of the refusal of the Criminal Cases Review Commission to refer his conviction for the murder of his daughter Geraldine to the Court of Appeal pursuant to its powers under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995.
History.
Timothy Evans was convicted of the murder of his daughter and sentenced to death on 13th January 1950. A count relating to the murder of his wife Beryl was ordered to lie on the file. His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed and he was executed on 9th March 1950.
The conviction of Timothy Evans is now recognised to have been one of the most notorious, if not the most notorious, miscarriages of justice. He lived at 10 Rillington Place. His downstairs neighbour was John Reginald Christie, who was the central prosecution witness at the trial of Timothy Evans. Christie was a serial killer who later confessed to killing Mr Evans' wife, Beryl. The bodies of six women whom Christie murdered were later found at 10 Rillington Place. The manner in which he murdered other women and concealed their bodies fitted the murder of Beryl Evans.
The prosecution case against Timothy Evans was that the murder of his daughter and that of his wife must have been committed by the same person as part of a single transaction or series of events. The case was put by Mr Christmas Humphreys QC on behalf of the Crown at the beginning of the trial of Timothy Evans, in the absence of the jury, as follows:
"My Lord, there are two indictments in this case against this man, one for murdering his wife and the other for murdering his child two days later in exactly the same circumstances by strangulation, and putting the bodies in the same place. There is one set of depositions, and those depositions include the facts which concern the wife and the facts concerning the child. I have chosen to proceed upon the second and later indictment for the murder of the child, and, in my submission, all the evidence concerning the murder of the wife is admissible on the one ground that it is part of the same transaction."
On that basis, although the count of murdering Beryl was not before the jury in accordance with the then criminal practice, evidence relating to her murder was put before them with the leave of the judge as a result of the submissions to which I have just referred, it being alleged that Evans committed both murders.
The discovery of Christie's serial murders so similar to the murder of Beryl Evans of itself removed the foundation from the conviction of Timothy Evans for the murder of his daughter.
Mr Evans had confessed to the murder of his wife and his child. He was an impressionable man of below normal intelligence. His second confession, on which the prosecution at his trial relied, was subsequently retracted. The police had taken statements from workmen who had carried out work on the wash house at 10 Rillington Place in which the bodies of Beryl and Geraldine had been found. Those statements, if accurate, showed that Mr Evans could not have hidden the bodies of his wife and daughter on the dates stated in his confession. They therefore cast considerable doubt on the reliability of his confession. Nonetheless, the statements of those workmen were not disclosed to the defence or placed before the jury at the trial. Instead, two at least of the workmen were persuaded by the police to make new statements which were not expressly inconsistent with Mr Evans' confession. The new statements were not disclosed either.
The discovery that Christie was a serial murderer and his admissions that he had killed Beryl Evans led, following his conviction in 1953, to an enquiry by Mr Scott-Henderson QC into the reliability of Mr Evans' conviction. Mr Scott-Henderson QC concluded that there had been no miscarriage of justice in relation to the conviction and execution of Timothy Evans. His report did not allay public concerns as to the justice of the conviction. Sir Ludovic Kennedy's book "10 Rillington Place" published in 1961 was a convincing destruction of the case against Timothy Evans and of the conclusions of the Scott-Henderson report.
There was continuing public agitation in relation to the Timothy Evans' case. As a result, between November 1965 and January 1966, Mr Justice Brabin conducted a fresh enquiry into the murders of Beryl and Geraldine Evans. His report was published on 12th October 1966. He concluded that on the balance of probabilities Timothy Evans did not kill his daughter, of whose murder he had been convicted, but that he probably did kill his wife, of whose murder he had not been convicted. The Brabin report was inconsistent with the Scott-Henderson report. Its conclusion was inconsistent with the prosecution case that both murders had been committed by the same person.
It was then the general rule that the Home Secretary would not recommend the grant of a free pardon unless he was satisfied that the person concerned had "clean hands", that is that not only was he innocent of the offence of which he was convicted, but also that he did not in fact commit any other offence or have any intention of doing so. I refer to paragraph 197 of the Home Office memorandum on the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. It was similarly accepted that the Home Secretary would not recommend the grant of a free pardon unless he was satisfied of the innocence of the applicant: see paragraph 176. On the basis of the Brabin report, it might have been said that neither of these conditions was satisfied in the case of Timothy Evans.
Nonetheless, on 18th October 1966 a free pardon was granted in respect of Timothy Evans' conviction for the murder of his daughter. The Home Secretary, Mr Roy Jenkins, announcing the pardon in the House of Commons, said this:
"I am sure the House would wish me to express our thanks to Mr Justice Brabin for the painstaking and thorough way in which he conducted the inquiry into this case and for the comprehensive nature of his Report. Mr Justice Brabin's conclusion, as the House will be aware, is that it is now impossible to establish the truth beyond doubt but that it is more probable than not that Evans did not kill his daughter, for whose murder he was tried, convicted and executed. In all the circumstances, I do not think it would be right to allow Evans's conviction to stand. I have, therefore, decided that the proper course is to recommend to Her Majesty that She should grant a Free Pardon, and I am glad to be able to tell the House that the Queen has approved my recommendation and that the Free Pardon was signed this morning.
This case has no precedent and will, I hope and believe, have no successor."
There was a question from Mr John Hall MP:
"Is it not a fact that although the Report indicates that in all probability Evans was not responsible for his daughter's death, it is nevertheless probable that he was responsible for his wife's death?"
The extract from Hansard shows that that question was met by Honorary members shouting "No". Mr Jenkins replied:
"Yes, but I am also aware that Mr Justice Brabin said that there were certain circumstances which, in his view, would have meant that a jury could not have regarded this as beyond reasonable doubt, and, furthermore, I have to deal with the case in which Evans was tried, convicted and executed."
Paragraph 168 of the Home Office memorandum, to which I have referred, says this:
"There is no doubt that for practical purposes a grant of a free pardon is quite sufficient both to relieve the individual who receives it from the practical consequences of conviction and to establish his innocence and therefore restore his reputation."
By letter dated 3rd August 2000 the Home Office informed the solicitors acting for Mr Evans' personal representatives that the Home Secretary had decided to make, without admission of liability, an ex-gratia payment of compensation to them. The amount of compensation to be paid was assessed by Lord Brennan QC, as independent assessor. On the basis of Mr Fitzgerald's cogent written submissions dated 27th January 2003, Lord Brennan concluded as follows:
"i. The conviction and execution of Timothy Evans for the murder of his child was wrongful and a miscarriage of justice.
ii. There is no evidence to implicate Timothy Evans in the murder of his wife. She was most probably murdered by Christie."
In paragraph 6 of his conclusions Lord Brennan said this:
"I have considered the history. I have concluded that no reliance can be placed on the Scott Henderson report in particular because of the later pardon. I do not accept the conclusions of the Brabin report that Evans was probably not guilty of his child's murder but probably was guilty of his wife's murder. Having regard to Christie's confession and convictions I consider that the Brabin report conclusion should be rejected."
As a result of Lord Brennan's decision, six figure sums have been paid to Mr Evans' sister and half-sister. The amount of compensation recognised the profound effect of Timothy Evans' wrongful...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Table of Cases
...Queen (1928), 42 C.L.R. 1, [1928] HCA 41 ......................................... 140 Westlake v. Criminal Cases Review Commission, [2004] EWHC Admin 2779 .......... 342 Wilde v. he Queen, [1988] HCA 6 ............................................................................... 155 Will......
-
Cases: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4
...EWCA Crim2047 16R v West (Ricky) [2005] EWCA Crim517 306Westlake v Criminal Cases ReviewCommission [2004] EWHC 2779(Admin), The Times (19 November2004)...
-
Criminal Cases Review Commission: Discretion to Refer Cases
...Cases Review Commission:Discretion to Refer CasesWestlake vCriminal Cases Review Commission [2004] EWHC 2779(Admin), The Times (19 November 2004)Timothy Evans was convicted of the murder of his daughter in January1950. A further charge, that of murdering his wife, was ordered to lie onthe f......
-
Cases: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
...Crim 43 478 2047 16 R v Smith and Another [2005] UKHL 12, Westlake v Criminal Cases Review [2005] All ER (D) 237 (Feb) 397 Commission [2004] EWHC 2779 R v West (Ricky) [2005] EWCA (Admin), The Times (19 November 517 306 2004) 197 viii ...