No apologies can ever make up for my 17 years in prison for a crime I did not commit

A WRONGLY convicted man who was imprisoned for 17 years and repeatedly denied the right to appeal has told of the "insane nightmare" he faced in the criminal justice system.

- Nicola Methven

In a film shot over three years after Andy Malkinson's release in 2020, it is revealed that his mum, Trish Hose, never doubted he was innocent of the rape he was accused of, but his sister Sarah thought he must have done it and refused to visit him in jail.

And while miscarriage of justice victims who wrongfully serve more than a decade in jail are entitled to up to £1million in compensation, Andy, now 58, has not received a penny.

After serving the full sentence because he refused to admit to a crime he did not commit, he suffers panic attacks, flashbacks and nightmares.

He said he felt compelled to tell his story in the BBC documentary as a warning for others.

Horror

He said: "I've lost 20 years of my life and no apologies or platitudes about lessons learned can ever make up for what they did to me.

"I'm an ordinary citizen. And ordinary people should be aware you can be taken, just taken. It can happen to anybody. And once they've got you, they don't want to let you go." Remembering the day he was convicted, he says: "I just couldn't believe it absolute disbelief, horror and fear.