‘A scapegoat over Malkinson case’: Criminal Cases Review Commission boss resigns

The head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has resigned, saying that she was made a scapegoat over the Andrew Malkinson case.

Mr Malkinson spent 17 years behind bars for a rape he did not commit and labelled CCRC chairwoman Helen Pitcher’s comments as a “shameless” attempt to “portray herself as the victim”, adding that he knows what it “truly is like” to be a scapegoat.

He called for a complete overhaul of the CCRC, claiming the body “obstructed my fight for justice”, and repeated demands for Ms Pitcher to be fired and stripped of her OBE after a review was published last July.

It found that wrongly jailed Mr Malkinson was failed by the CCRC and could have been exonerated nearly a decade earlier, prompting Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to say Ms Pitcher was “unfit to fulfil her duties” and to seek her removal from the post.

In her resignation letter to the Justice Secretary, Ms Pitcher said she feels it is “unfair” she has been “singled out” in receiving the level of scrutiny that she has over her part in the litany of failings in Mr Malkinson’s case.

“I understand the fury over this grave miscarriage of justice and believe that serious questions remain for Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service,” she said.

“I note that the DPP and the Chief Constable of the GMP have not been subject of comparable criticism. It feels unfair that I, who was fully supportive of the reference to the Court of Appeal, have been singled out but the others have not been the subject of similar proceedings.

“I do feel I have been scapegoated for entirely legitimate operational decisions that were not handled by any non-executive CCRC chair before I joined the organisation.

“The original rejection of Mr Malkinson’s appeal was almost a decade before my time: on my watch, armed with new DNA evidence which we commissioned, we were able to resolve the situation, and set Mr Malkinson free.”

The 66-year-old also said in her letter: “A head had to roll, and I was chosen for that role.”

Further, she warned it “may prove extremely difficult” to find a new chair prepared to take on a role in which she says “they will be held personally responsible for historical failures over which they will have had no say”.

“This approach is reminiscent of the Conservative Business Secretary who sacked Henry Staunton as Chairman of the Post Office because ‘someone has to take the rap’,” she continued.

“Like me he joined that organisation to fix the failures that had already occurred. It is worthy of note that the CCRC were instrumental in the overturning of Miscarriages of Justice for the Sub-Postmasters.”

Mr Malkinson criticised Ms Pitcher following her resignation.

In a statement provided by legal charity Appeal – which supports Mr Malkinson – he said: “Helen Pitcher’s attempt to portray herself as the victim here is shameless.

“I know what it truly is like to be a scapegoat.”

He called for further resignations.

“I agree, however, that others need to be held accountable,” Mr Malkinson said. “The CCRC’s senior leadership, starting with the CEO, must also resign to pave the way for root-and-branch reform.

“I am astonished that the outgoing chair claims that the CCRC was able to ‘resolve the situation,’ and set me free. That work was done by my team at APPEAL, not the CCRC, who were considering rejecting my case for a third time.

“Going forward, it is crucial that the CCRC is led by people with the guts to challenge miscarriages of justice, even if that means taking on forces like the police and judiciary.”

Matt Foot, co-director of Appeal, called Ms Pitcher’s resignation “a real victory”.

“This is clearly the right decision and a real victory for those of us campaigning for an effective miscarriage of justice watchdog,” he said.

“Helen Pitcher proved herself an unfit leader when she shamelessly sought praise for her organisation’s catastrophic mishandling of Andrew Malkinson’s case and then spent months denying him an apology.

“The priority now must be to get in a new chair and a fresh senior leadership team with experience of fighting injustice, who can restore public confidence in the CCRC.

“Miscarriage of justice survivors, campaigners and lawyers should all be consulted to make sure that the right people are selected.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The Lord Chancellor established an independent panel to consider Helen Pitcher’s role as chair of the CCRC. We welcome her resignation.

“Given the importance of the CCRC’s work, we will appoint an interim chair as quickly as possible who will be tasked with conducting a full and thorough review of how the organisation operates.”

A CCRC spokesperson said: “We welcome the clarity given by Mrs Pitcher’s decision and look forward to working with the interim chair to continue the important task of finding, investigating and referring to the appeal courts possible miscarriages of justice.”

Ms Pitcher offered Mr Malkinson an “unreserved apology” in April 2024, almost a year after his 2003 conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in light of new DNA evidence. It later emerged her statement came only after a review said she should apologise.

She was originally hired as CCRC chairwoman in 2018 for three years by the late Queen when Theresa May was prime minister. She was then reappointed in 2021, under Boris Johnson’s administration, for a five-year term which was due to end in 2026.