§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons convicted of murder and later found innocent have received compensation; and what were the sums involved.
§ Mr. MellorIn England and Wales since 1965 ex gratia payments have been made to four defendants whose convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal, three of them following a reference by the Secretary of State. The sums involved were £25,000, £21,020, £18,000 and £9,950.
§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been convicted of murder and subsequently found innocent since the abolition of capital punishment; and how many were given a royal pardon.
§ Mr. MellorInformation is not immediately available in the Home Office concerning the number of cases in which the Court of Appeal, in the course of normal appeal procedures, has quashed a conviction for murder.
No one convicted in England and Wales of murder since the abolition of capital punishment in 1965 has been granted a free pardon. Since 1965, the cases of seven persons convicted of murder have been referred to the Court of Appeal under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. The court quashed the convictions of four of them and, in the case of another, substituted a verdict of manslaughter and imposed a sentence of seven years' imprisonment. In a case where the court had quashed the conviction of one man out of three jointly convicted, and considerable unease was felt about the convictions of the other two, the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy was later recommended so as to remit the remainder of their sentences, and they were released.