John Woodruff
Years in prison:
3
Year of crime:
1996
Year conviction was overturned:
2000
William Hickson and John Woodruff were convicted of robbery after £33,000 was stolen from a post office by robbers armed with a handgun and a bottle of amonia. Hickson and Woodruff claimed that police officers had planted a gun on them when they were arrested. On appeal, it was shown that the officers who had arrested Hickson and Woodruff had been suspended during a police crackdown on corruption. This evidence of police corruption made the convictions unsafe. Hickson and Woodruff had been due to face a retrial but a new judge ruled that they case was “permeated by the stench of police corruption” and a new hearing would be unfair.
View Press (www.independent.co.uk)
< Back to Case Search < Back to Overview Graph- Offence: Robbery / burglary
- Jurisdiction: England & Wales
- County: Greater London
- Ethnicity: White
- Gender: M
- Years in prison: 3
- Offence convicted of: Robbery
- Year of crime: 1996
- Year of initial conviction: 1997
- Year conviction was overturned: 2000
- Age when imprisoned: 60
- CCRC Referral: N
- Tried with others: Y
- Link to full case: Not available
- Type of fresh evidence at appeal: Evidence casting doubt on the integrity of police
- Compensation: Unknown
- Crown argued case at CofA: Unknown
- Retrial: No
- Previous appeals: Unknown