Charlton, Alan

Alan Charlton pleaded not guilty but was convicted, on 26th February 1991 at Cardiff Crown Court, of the murder of Karen Price. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a tariff of 15 years.

Mr Charlton appealed against his conviction. His appeal was heard alongside that of his co-defendant, Idris Ali, on 11th November 1994. The Court dismissed Mr Charlton’s appeal but quashed Mr Ali’s conviction and ordered a retrial.

The CCRC received an application for review of Mr Charlton’s conviction in August 2009.

The CCRC’s review focused upon the proposition that the integrity of the police inquiry into the murder was flawed and that, as a consequence, the testimony of a number of witnesses could no longer be relied upon.

The CCRC considered there was a real risk that police officers had pursued a “close-minded” investigation such that there existed the suspicion of police malfeasance.

The techniques and tactics adopted by police officers were in breach of the spirit and in some cases the letter of the Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984 (PACE).

Had the defence had knowledge of this at the time of trial an application for a stay of proceedings on the grounds of abuse of process was likely to have been made.

The CCRC referred the conviction in February 2014.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in March 2016.