News
Angela’s work for the CCRC crucial in Appeal Court decision to quash murder convictions
Dwaine George who was sentenced to life for the shooting of a teenager has been cleared of his murder at the Court of Appeal. Mr George, 30, was jailed in 2002 after teenager Daniel Dale was shot dead in Miles Platting, Manchester. He was convicted on the basis of particles of gunshot residue found on an item of clothing.
He denied involvement and analysis of his case was initially undertaken by law students at Cardiff University who subsequently prepared his case.
At the Court of Appeal, Sir Brian Leveson said the CCRC had obtained its own scientific evidence having commissioned Angela Shaw of FFC Ltd to review all of the GSR evidence in Mr George’s case.
On the basis of Angela’s report the CCRC referred the case on the grounds there was “a real possibility” the evidence of gunshot residue “does not now attract the value attributed to it at trial, and therefore does not support the identification evidence”.
Sir Leveson, president of the Queen’s Bench Division concluded that:
“Having admitted the evidence of Ms Shaw, we have concluded that it might reasonably have affected the decision of the trial jury so that these convictions are no longer safe; in the circumstances, the appeal is allowed and the convictions quashed”.
He also expressed “gratitude” to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which referred Mr George’s case to the court.
James Wood QC, of Doughty Street Chambers summarises the case in this bulletin: GSR and the Cardiff Innocence Project
Approved Judgement
