It has been almost 18 months since Jason Moore submitted vital new evidence to the miscarriage of justice watchdog in a bid to overturn his murder conviction – but he is still no closer to freedom.
The only witness to the crime had revealed he was drunk and was not sure if he identified the right man in an astonishing admission which Moore hopes could finally clear his name after 12 years in prison for a crime he insists he did not commit.
But in nearly a year and a half the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which has just been put under “urgent review” by the justice secretary, has failed to even speak to the witness.
Frustrated at the lack of action, the Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney, stepped in to help. When she tried to contact Abdul Ahmed, who in 2023 revealed his doubts to an investigative journalist, she found him at home after simply knocking on his front door twice, The Independent can reveal.
The bishop said the failure to carry out the most basic enquiries leaves her “seriously concerned about the ability of the CCRC to do justice for anyone” as Moore languishes in prison.
“It wasn’t that difficult, I went in the morning and he was there,” said Bishop Joanne, who is backing Moore’s campaign for freedom.
“It’s quite incredible that no one has been persistent in doing that. He clearly lives there and has lived there for quite a while.”
She said the CCRC’s efforts to contact Mr Ahmed were “not good enough” as she hit out at the review body, which has come under sustained fire for its handling of other cases, including that of Andrew Malkinson who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Last week, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood installed former victims’ commissioner Dame Vera Baird as interim chair and ordered her to carry out an urgent review of the body, whose chief executive Karen Kneller has admitted she only goes to the office “maybe one or two days every couple of months or so” while drawing an £130,000 taxpayer funded salary.
MPs last month called for her step down after she was accused of misleading the justice committee as they quizzed her over the CCRC’s handling of Mr Malkinson’s wrongful conviction.
An investigation led by Chris Henley KC found he could have been exonerated 10 years earlier if not for serious failings by the review board.
He said it was “absolutely shocking” that investigators had failed to establish contact with Mr Ahmed in 18 months since Moore’s application, adding: “Nobody should have to have to wait that amount of time.”
He told The Independent the CCRC needs “energetic, focussed and rigorous leadership” to properly investigate alleged miscarriages of justice.
“Every day when there’s a lethargic approach – and there was lots of this in Mr Malkinson’s case – is a day someone is losing from their life and that has to be at the forefront of the work of the CCRC,” he told The Independent.
In a message from HMP Oakwood in Wolverhampton, Moore accused the CCRC’s leaders of treating “people’s lives like they are toys”, adding: “To keep people in prison when you have evidence that exonerates them is a form of evil that needs to be squashed.”
His sister Kirstie described the CCRC as “shambolic” as she hit out at a string of excuses from the commissioner who is supposed to be examining his case.
“My brother’s freedom hinges on the independence and diligence of the CCRC,” she told The Independent.
“They are our last hope when justice fails. Yet 18 months have passed, and the CCRC has nothing to show—no sign of a single effort, only a relentless succession of excuses. And still, Jason is the one paying the price for their weary resignation and neglect.
“To ‘try’ means to act—and thank God for Bishop Joanne Grenfell, who did just that. She knocked twice, and her efforts brought the witness to the door.”
Moore, a former professional gambler, 53, claims he has been wrongly convicted of the 2005 stabbing of Robert Darby outside a pub in London’s east end.
A string of high-profile supporters, including Mr Darby’s brother, Bishop Joanne and cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, have backed his bid to overturn his conviction
Miscarriage of justice campaigner Lord Nicholas Monson, who has visited Moore in prison and is backing his fight, said such apathy makes it seem like the CCRC simply “doesn’t care”.
“These people are put in jobs to root out injustice and they are doing the opposite,” he added.
Chairman of the justice committee Andy Slaughter welcomed the appointment of Dame Vera to carry out a “much-needed” review of the CCRC, after the committee outlined “strong concerns about how investigations were operating” in a report last month.
A CCRC spokesperson said: “We have received an application in relation to this case and a review is underway.
“We have made repeated efforts to contact all relevant parties. These efforts will continue.
“It would be inappropriate for us to discuss the application further at this stage.”
