James, Albert

Albert James was convicted in October 1986 of murder and conspiracy to rob and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in October 2001.

During the police investigation, Mr James’s co-defendants had confessed to the offences and alleged that Mr James had been part of the conspiracy.

The only other evidence of this was Mr James’ own confession following a seven hour interview.

At interview, Mr James’s request for a solicitor had been refused in breach of the Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984 (PACE).

The police also did not ensure, in the absence of a solicitor or other appropriate adult, that another person likely to take an interest in Mr James was available to check voluntary statements signed by Mr James.

The CCRC considered that these breaches of PACE could have provided potential mechanisms for the exclusion of the confession evidence at trial.

In addition, no contemporaneous notes of the interview were taken and no opportunity was afforded to Mr James to confirm or reject the record of interview subsequently made.

The CCRC referred the conviction in September 2002.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in May 2004.