Kelly, George

George Kelly was convicted in February 1950 of murder. Mr Kelly received a sentence of death and was executed in March 1950.

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

An investigation found that a key witness for the prosecution (another prisoner who had been on remand with Mr Kelly), who had stated to the police that Mr Kelly had admitted to the murders, had in fact made a previous statement that an entirely different person had admitted to this offence.

The police had believed the witness’ statement implicating Mr Kelly but the witness’s first statement implicating another man was not disclosed to the defence or the court.

The CCRC concluded that this new evidence significantly impacted the credibility of the prosecution witness and it referred the conviction in February 2001.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in June 2003.