'Absent' CCRC in disarray on eve of Letby review

For the wrongfully convicted, the miscarriage of justice watchdog represents their final hope. But some staff at the Criminal Cases Review Commission say its leaders appear divorced from that reality, using public money for executive training retreats in France and networking over fine wine and steak.

- Emily Dugan

The CCRC is in the spotlight again as it is due to consider a dossier of new expert evidence in the Lucy Letby case. While it faces a decision in one of the highest-profile potential miscarriages of justice in decades, its leadership is in a state of disarray.

Its chair, Helen Pitcher, resigned last month after an independent panel decided she was no longer fit to stay in post. Pitcher responded by saying she had been "scapegoated" over the case of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a 2003 rape he did not commit after the CCRC missed multiple opportunities to help.

But sources claim there is rising frustration in the CCRC that thinly stretched staff who care about uncovering miscarriages of justice have been poorly represented by its leaders who "haven't got a clue".

Sources said Pitcher "would conduct Teams meetings from the balcony of her villa in the sunshine" in Montenegro and boast about her jetset life in weekly memos to staff.

Meanwhile, Karen Kneller, who remains chief executive, has been nicknamed "Karen Invisible" by staff. She is described by some of those working for her as "absent", with her "finger off the pulse".

In December last year, Kneller wrote what had become a familiar message in her weekly update to staff: "I am away doing some training but I'll be staying in touch."

She was at Insead, Europe's answer to Harvard business school, staying in a luxury room at its four-star hotel in Fontainebleau.

Alongside chairing the CCRC, Pitcher has held several roles with the gold-plated business school, whose courses Kneller has attended regularly since Pitcher was appointed chair in 2018.

Pitcher's spokesperson said the Ministry of Justice approved the business case for Kneller to attend Insead and that she "fully declared" her interests with the elite school.