Law Weblog

Law & Justice – Miscarriages – Cooper & McMahon

The significance of this case is that the miscarriage of justice survived for over 30 years.
1970 Patrick Colin Murphy, Michael Graham McMahon and David Cooper were convicted of the murder of Reginald Stevens at Luton during a bungled post office robbery in 1969.

Sequence of appeals:
1971 appeal dismissed by C of A.
1973 the Home Secretary referred the case of Murphy to the C of A who allowed his appeal.
1975 the Home Secretary referred the cases of Cooper and McMahon, but their appeals were dismissed.
1976 a second reference was again dismissed.
1978 the C of A declined to receive fresh evidence tendered by McMahon following a further reference by the Home Secretary.
1980 Cooper and McMahon were released from prison by order of the Home Secretary, because of the “widely felt sense of unease” about the safety of their convictions.
1995 Cooper died.
1999 McMahon died.
2001 the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred their cases to the C of A.
31st July 2003, their appeals were allowed. In part because of a discredited police officer; credibility of witnesses; non-disclosure and disquiet as to what happened to reward money (kept by a corrupt police officer?).
Whole case, here