Cleared.. after 20yr fight

Innocent Andrew blasts 'state kidnap' after 17yrs in jail on rape conviction

- STEPHEN WHITE

A MAN'S conviction for rape has finally been quashed, after 20 years of protesting his innocence.

Andrew Malkinson, 57, who spent 17 years behind bars, walked free and said:

"I was kidnapped by the state. It has taken nearly 20 years to persuade my kidnappers to let me go.

"I'm left outside this court without an apology. I'm jobless and homeless. My life is a black hole.

"I thought I'd die in prison. I was told I was a violent monster. I only felt safe locked behind my cell door, a rapist is the lowest of the low. I feared I'd be murdered by an inmate."

His convictions - two counts of rape and one of choking or strangling with intent to commit rape were quashed at the Appeal Court in London yesterday.