Otoo, Joseph

Joseph Otoo was convicted in February 1997 of armed robbery and received a sentence of seven years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in May 1998.

Mr Otoo’s conviction was based on a match between indentations in his training shoes and a footprint made in a flower bed by the culprit in the course of their getaway.

Mr Otoo’s account at trial was that he had been forced to swap footwear with another person.

The CCRC’s review applied modern DNA testing which established that DNA extracted from bodily fluids impregnating the insole of the trainers matched the person that Mr Otoo had named as having forced him to swap footwear.

The CCRC referred the conviction in October 1999.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in January 2000.