Paul Quinn, aged 52, has been convicted by a jury on Friday following a month-long trial after he was found guilty of rape, strangulation and grievous bodily harm. The conviction comes after Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years in prison for the same crime before his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2023.
Key Takeaways
Paul Quinn has been convicted of raping a woman in Little Hulton, Salford in 2003 for which Andrew Malkinson was wrongly imprisoned for 17 years.
- Paul Quinn found guilty after DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene
- Victim and Andrew Malkinson express relief at the verdict
- Greater Manchester Police apologize for their role in the miscarriage of justice
The victim, now in her late 50s, had walked home alone through a semi-rural part of Salford after an argument with her boyfriend when she heard a male voice call out from the bushes. The man said he had a gun and followed her to a motorway bridge where he dragged her down an embankment and strangled her unconscious before raping her.
The delay in identifying Quinn came after detectives fixated on the wrong man, Andy Malkinson, who was living temporarily in the area because of a short-term job. Police saw him as the prime suspect purely because he had been stopped by two officers some time earlier and thought he matched the victim's description.
The breakthrough only came 12 years later when Appeal charity instructed scientists to take the sample and look again, which identified Quinn in 2022. The trial heard that Quinn was a convicted sex offender at the time of the attack. He had been cautioned for indecent assault against a female when he was just 12 years old.
The victim told officers preparing the case against Quinn that she first had doubts Malkinson attacked her after seeing him in court. The jury was also not informed of well-documented doubts about an eyewitness called Beverley Craig who picked Malkinson out of a video ID parade but only after changing her mind.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating five former Greater Manchester police officers on suspicion of gross misconduct, including one who could face criminal charges. The IOPC inquiry is examining whether police failed to disclose the criminal histories of its two key witnesses and whether they were offered any incentive to provide evidence against Malkinson.
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