The head of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has resigned and told The Times she was “made a scapegoat” over the Andrew Malkinson case.
Mr Malkinson spent 17 years behind bars for a rape he did not commit and called for a complete overhaul of the CCRC, claiming the body “obstructed my fight for justice”.
He repeated demands for chairwoman Helen Pitcher to be fired and stripped of her OBE after a review was published last July.
Andrew Malkinson spent 17 years behind bars for a rape he did not commit (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
It found that wrongly jailed Mr Malkinson was failed by the CCRC and could have been exonerated nearly a decade earlier, prompting Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to say Ms Pitcher was “unfit to fulfil her duties” and to seek her removal from the post.
On Tuesday, Ms Pitcher told The Times she had been unfairly ousted over Mr Malkinson’s case, adding: “A head had to roll and I was chosen for that role.”
The 66-year-old went on: “I was made a scapegoat for decisions largely made before I got involved in this organisation.
“In the inquiries that followed, I was not given the chance to properly defend myself.
“I shudder to think why anyone would want to go into public life on that basis.”
The CCRC declined to comment.