I am Dr Mark Smith with a track record of achievement in diverse and challenging environments including politics, culture, education and 'human rights'/social issues. It has been a privilege to belong to an organisation such as False Allegations Support Organisation ((FASO). I have been involved in a number of capacities over 10 years. I am currently supporting a prisoner in a prison by being his advocate.
I believe the falsely accused and the wrongly imprisoned need a voice. FASO has been providing this for 20 years. It has been a honour to have been approached to write the history of FASO, which has gone from a idea to a force to reckon with in a time when families and individuals suffer the impacts of false allegations, both psychological and financially. In a democracy we need fair trials and justice! FASO will continue to fight for these!
It is from this standpoint that I argue that Andy Malkinson was betrayed, and so was the victim. We at FASO have long written about injustice and worked with like minded charities that campaign to eradicate it. Since watching the BBC documentary about Andrew Malkinson's 2003 wrongful conviction of rape, 'The wrong man: 17 years behind bars', one wonders how many more innocent people have been subject to false accusations and been similarly wrongly convicted.
It is an extraordinary portrait of an ordinary man trapped in a Kafkaesque system of 'justice'. His claims of innocence trapping him in prison longer extending the injustice. It is hardly a system that works for justice either, with only 5% of recorded rapes resulting in a charge.
Malkinson who was convicted on the victim's wrongful identification, but also on the witness accounts of two undeclared criminals with an undeclared relationship with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), emphasizes that she has been let down too.
A system that allows Malkinson to serve 17 years, even though the DNA that would have exonerated him allegedly came to light just three years into his sentence, and lets a violent rapist walk the streets, that tears away the peace of a victim who thought she would receive justice, is a system in need of urgent reform.
With the trust, faith and confidence in the Police, CPS and the Justice system at an all time low, let's hope the new Government in the name of 'DEMOCRACY' tackles the issues underlying the sclerotic system.
By Dr Mark Smith
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