Evidence to acquit Malkinson not acted on for years

Police and CPS had crucial DNA evidence 16 years before Malkinson cleared of rape

-  Emily Dugan

Police and prosecutors in the Andrew Malkinson rape case knew there was another man's DNA on the victim's clothes in 2007 - three years after he was wrongly convicted - but he remained in prison for a further 13 years.

Malkinson was cleared by the court of appeal last month after spending 17 years in prison for the 2003 rape, which he did not commit. His exoneration came after fresh DNA testing potentially linked another man to the crime.

Case files released to Malkinson as he fought his conviction, seen by the Guardian, reveal that police and prosecutors knew forensic testing in 2007 had found a searchable male DNA profile on the female victim's vest top that did not match Malkinson's.

They decided not to take further action, and there is no record that they told the body responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice, though Malkinson's lawyers were notified.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission declined to order further forensic testing or refer the case for appeal in 2012, with the files showing it raising concerns about costs.

The DNA discovery was made in 2007 as part of a nationwide review of the forensics used in historic rape and murder cases called Operation Cube.

Malkinson, 57, was convicted of a stranger rape in Manchester in 2004 on the basis of eyewitness evidence, with the prosecution arguing he left no DNA because he was "forensically aware" - including possibly wearing a condom. He always maintained he was innocent.

The discovery of another man's DNA - which was not the victim's then boyfriend's - in a "crime specific" area of the victim's clothes did not result in the CCRC referring his case for appeal. During the attack, the victim suffered a bite which partially severed her left nipple, meaning saliva staining on the vest above the left breast was considered "crime specific" by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).