Criminal Cases Review Commission
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Commission refers the 27-year old murder conviction of Sean Hodgson to the court of appeal
The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the murder conviction of Sean Hodgson to the Court of Appeal - 27 years after the trial took place.
Sean Hodgson, also known as Robert Graham Hodgson, was accused of murdering Miss Teresa De Simone in Southampton on December 5th, 1979.
Miss De Simone's partially clothed body was found in the back seat of her Ford Escort shortly after 10am in the car park beneath the Tom Tackle pub where she worked part time as a barmaid. She had been strangled.
Miss De Simone was 22 at the time of her death and had been living in the Shirley area of Southampton.
Mr Hodgson made various confessions to the murder before the trial at Winchester Crown Court. At trial he pleaded not guilty to a single charge of murder. The jury found him guilty on February 5th, 1982, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment - he has been in prison ever since.
At trial, Mr Hodgson's defence was that he was a pathological liar and that various confessions he had made to the crime were untrue. His defence attempted to show that he could have known the details of the crime as he described it in his confessions without having actually killed Miss De Simone.
The prosecution was also supported by the fact that blood type analysis available at the time showed that material recovered at the scene belonged to a man with blood of either group A or AB. Mr Hodgson was in that category along with roughly a third of the male population.
DNA tests were not available at the time - the world's first use of DNA evidence in court did not take place until 1986 in Leicester. But, after requests from Mr Hodgson's legal representatives at Julian Young & Co, Hampshire Constabulary and the Forensic Science Service undertook a comprehensive forensic case review and examination of material from the original case in November 2008. This included DNA testing on samples collected at the time of the murder.
In light of new evidence available, the Commission has decided to refer Mr Hodgson's conviction to the Court of Appeal because it believes there is a real possibility that the court will consider the conviction unsafe and quash it.
The Court of Appeal is due to hear the appeal on March 18th.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission reviewed Mr Hodgson's case as a matter of particular urgency after the Hampshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service brought it to the Commission's attention. The review and decision took two days, making it one of the fastest in the Commission's history.
After deciding to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, the Commission also decided to contact the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss the desirability of a project to identify and review similar murder cases arising from the time before DNA testing and where testable forensic evidence still survives which could confirm or cast doubt on the safety of a conviction, and where the defendant is still alive. A guilty plea or the existence of admissions should not exclude cases from such a review.
The Criminal Case Review Commission has brought the case to the attention of the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service and arrangements are being made to provide Mr Hodgson with appropriate support and advice in the event that the Court of Appeal quashes his conviction.
Mr Hodgson is legally represented by Julian Young & Co, 57 Duke Street, Mayfair London, W1K 5NR. Tel: 020 7493 2211.
This press release was issued by Justin Hawkins, Head of Communication, Criminal Cases Review Commission, on 0121 633 1806 or e-mail press@ccrc.gov.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Criminal Cases Review Commission is an independent body set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. It is responsible for reviewing suspected and alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is based in Birmingham and is funded by the Ministry of Justice.
2. There are 11 Commissioners who bring to the Commission considerable experience from a wide variety of backgrounds. Commissioners are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister in accordance with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments' Code of Practice.
3. The Commission receives around 1,000 applications for reviews (convictions and/or sentences) each year. Typically, around 4%, or one in 25, of all applications are referred to the appeal courts.
4. The Commission considers whether, as a result of new evidence or argument, there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were a reference to be made. New evidence or argument is argument or evidence which has not been raised during the trial or on appeal. Applicants should usually have appealed first. A case can be referred in the absence of new evidence or argument or an earlier appeal only if there are "exceptional circumstances".
5. If a case is referred, it is then for the appeal court to decide whether the conviction is unsafe or the sentence unfair.
