The chief executive of the body that examines miscarriages of justice has resigned as the watchdog tries to rebuild public confidence in the wake of the Andrew Malkinson case.
Karen Kneller’s resignation from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) comes after former chairwoman Helen Pitcher stepped down in January, claiming she had been scapegoated over Mr Malkinson‘s case.
He was wrongly convicted of rape and spent 17 years in jail in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
Last month, former victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird became the interim chairwoman of the CCRC, having been asked by the Lord Chancellor to carry out a review of the organisation.
She said: “The CCRC has a vital role to play in the criminal justice system, but confidence in the organisation has been badly damaged. Confidence in our work must be restored.
“I thank Karen for her work at the CCRC over many years.”
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Amanda Pearce, who is CCRC casework operations director, has been appointed interim chief executive, a position that had been held by Ms Kneller since 2013.
The CCRC – an independent public body that reviews possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and refers cases to the appeal courts – has had four critical reviews in the last 10 years.
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Mr Malkinson was knocked back twice by the CCRC until his legal team carried out crucial DNA testing that was then repeated by the commission and led to his release.
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A review found that he could have been released 10 years earlier if the CCRC had obtained new DNA evidence as early as 2009, and thousands of cases are being reviewed in the wake of the bungled handling of the case.
In May, the Commons Justice Committee also warned that the position of chief executive Ms Kneller was no longer tenable.
MPs said in a report that it followed “unpersuasive” evidence from her on the CCRC’s challenges and response to public criticisms in April, and concerns on the performance of the review body.
