McMahon, Michael

Michael McMahon was convicted in March 1970 of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The CCRC inherited an application for review of the conviction from the Home Office in March 1997.

The CCRC’s investigation raised significant concerns over the integrity and credibility of the key prosecution witness at trial.

The CCRC also considered that there were serious grounds for concern over the way in which the police had investigated the matter, the way the prosecution case was put together, and the failure of the prosecution to disclose relevant material to the defence.

Mr McMahon and his co-defendant David Cooper were released from prison by the Home Secretary in 1980 because of a “widely felt sense of unease” about the safety of their convictions.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2001.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in June 2003.