Garland, Jason

Jason Garland appeared at St Albans Crown Court in 2007 charged with burglary, aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He pleaded not guilty but was convicted on 20th December 2007 and was sentenced to imprisonment for public protection with a notional determinate sentence of 17 years.

The burglary occurred in July 2006 at the Harvester Public House, Croxley Green, Watford. The landlord and landlady of the pub were attacked with knives and badly injured during the burglary.

Evidence linking another man, Steven Ruffolo, to the burglary and attack led to his arrest a week after the incident. Mr Ruffolo was convicted in January 2007. Prior to sentence, he named Jason Garland as his accomplice.

Mr Garland denied any involvement in the offence and relied on alibi evidence provided by his girlfriend.

In 2010 Mr Garland tried unsuccessfully to appeal against his conviction. In March of that that year he applied to the CCRC for a review of his conviction.

Having conducted a detailed review of the case the CCRC decided to refer Mr Garland’s convictions to the Court of Appeal.

The referral was made on the basis that the deliberate non-disclosure of sensitive information to the police and the Crown, which could have affected the outcome of Mr Garland’s trial, raised a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would conclude that Mr Garland’s convictions were unsafe.

The CCRC referred the conviction in July 2015.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in November 2016.