13: Acquitted - but at what cost?

Brian Buckle was sentenced to 15 years for historic child sex abuse - a crime he didn’t commit. It took him five years in prison and hundreds of thousands of pounds to prove his innocence. 

Brian may now be out of jail, but his fight for compensation continues. We hear from Brian and his wife about how a wrongful conviction ruined their lives.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

12: Pursuing a Killer

Former detective superintendent Julie MacKay has dedicated her career to putting the right people behind bars.

She solved the murder of Melanie Road, more than three decades after it happened.

Julie knows first-hand how groundbreaking technological developments in policing can help track down criminals - but does that always mean the right people get caught?

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

11: The Fight for Compensation

Every week Mark Newby gets letters from people desperate for his help. Those people are behind bars, they say they are innocent and have no way of proving it.

They need a criminal appeal lawyer to take on their case - and that's where Mark comes in. But he must choose who he is going to fight for.

In this episode Mark talks about how he decides what case to pursue. He says he has to be tough - the resources aren't there to help everyone. And then when he starts working on a case, it can take years, even decades, to be freed.

Then when they are lucky enough to be released, the wrongfully convicted get less help than those who are guilty and who have served their time.

Then their chance of getting ANY compensation is minimal. Mark is fighting to change that.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

10: Failures in the Justice System

Why does it take so long for someone to prove their innocence?  

Criminal defence solicitor and former head of the legal charity, APPEAL, Suzanne Gower explains why there are so many people in prison now who are not guilty.  

Suzanne talks about her own experience of trying to free people who are wrongly behind bars.

She talks about why the justice system fails them and how urgent changes need to be made.

She has helped free numerous high profile people including Andrew Malkinson who was freed from prison after he served 17 years for a wrongful rape conviction.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

9: Wrongful Convictions in the Spotlight

The issue of wrongful convictions has taken centre stage in the UK.  

The high profile Post Office Horizon scandal has dominated headlines. And the case of Andrew Malkinson - who was finally cleared of rape in 2023 after spending seventeen years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit - shone a renewed spotlight on what can happen when our criminal justice system doesn’t work as it should.

Claire McGourlay runs the Manchester Innocence Project.  In this podcast Claire looks back at all the things that went wrong to lead to the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson.

She explains why his case is so important in the pursuit of innocence for those wrongly jailed.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

8: A Massive Mistake

Luis Vargas was in prison for 16 years for charges including rape and kidnap - crimes he didn’t commit. 

His life fell apart, his wife divorced him, and he thought he had no hope of freedom. 

Somehow he managed to hide the fact that he was in prison for rape - because he knew he’d be beaten, even killed by other inmates. 

But, with the help of the California Innocence Project, he proved his innocence. 

Also featuring Justin Brooks from the California Innocence Project.

Warning: This episode includes graphic descriptions of prison violence. 

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

7: Pregnant in Prison

Kristine Bunch was wrongly sent to prison for arson and the murder of her 3-year-old son. She spent 17 years behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit. 

Pregnant when she was convicted, she describes how horrendous it was saying goodbye to her baby just hours after he was born, making the most of life in prison - and her relentless fight for innocence. 

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

6: The Post Office Scandal

It's described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history - more than 700 post office branch managers were given criminal convictions when faulty accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their sites.

Tom Hedges was one of those who faced a prison sentence.

Kylie speaks to Tom about how his once quiet life turned into a nightmare - and how hundreds of post office workers fought to clear their names.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project - https://bit.ly/34YbLTi

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/manchester-innocence-project-justice-hub

BONUS: The Secret Barrister

The criminal justice system was a world unfamiliar to many of us until The Secret Barrister lifted the lid on the ‘chaotic’ world of courts and convictions.

A junior barrister specialising in criminal law, this anoymous person is also a part-time author and blogger with almost half a million followers on Twitter.

The Secret Barrister started blogging in 2015. Their aim is to provide a ‘candid’ and ‘accessible’ explanation of the UK’s criminal justice system which, in their words, often doesn’t work.

Since then The Secret Barrister has written for several newspaper publications and published two Sunday Times bestsellers and recently released a third.

The Secret Barrister is on Twitter at twitter.com/BarristerSecret

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project

5: Life After a Death Sentence

Sonia Jacobs and Peter Pringle are a husband and wife with a bond like no other. They both spent years on death row for crimes they didn’t commit - Sonia (aka Sunny) in the USA, and Peter more than 4,000 miles away in Ireland.

You could say it was fate that brought them together after being exonerated. However, Peter says it made perfect sense that they met and fell in love.

In 1976, Sunny was sent to death row for the murder of two police officers. She spent 17 years in confinement, away from her two children. In 1980, Peter was given the same sentence, for the murder of two police officers. After more than a decade each in jail, they both had their convictions overturned. Little did they know at the time, they would soon meet and spend the rest of their lives changing the futures of fellow exonerees.

They live in Galway, Ireland, and run The Sunny Center - a sanctuary for people recently freed from prison.

The Sunny Center on Twitter

Read more about the foundation here: http://www.thesunnycenter.com/

Both Were Once on Death Row, Now They Share a Life Helping Others (article)

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project

4: Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

One afternoon in 2016, Liam Allan’s life was turned upside down after a single knock at his door. The criminology student had been falsely accused of rape, and was later charged. It wasn’t for another two years that tens of thousands of text messages proved his innocence. Why did it take so long? And what do you do when an accuser isn’t telling the truth?

Trapped inside the justice system, Liam was forced to come to terms with the prospect of years in prison for something he didn’t do.

He now lives with his partner and their young daughter. The pair dedicate their time to running The Defendant, a charity set up to help other people navigating the criminal justice system.

Liam Allan on Twitter

The Defendant

This episode features discussions around mental health. If you, or someone you know needs support, visit these websites for more information. Samaritans - Mind - Time to Change

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project

3: Righting Wrongful Convictions

In 1992, Marilyn Mulero was sentenced to death for a double murder in Chicago. After hours of interrogation with no legal counsel, a false ‘confession’ was coerced by police detectives. She was then encouraged to sign a plea bargain and give up the chance of a trial by jury. Little did she know that the 29-year-old law professor who read her story in a local newspaper would, 25 years later, become the man to win her freedom.

Justin Brooks’ dogged determination to prove Marilyn’s innocence has also seen him exonerate more than 30 wrongfully convicted people from Chicago’s prisons. In 1999 he co-founded the California Innocence Project, from which other innocence groups around the world now take inspiration. He has already been portrayed in a Hollywood film, but filmmakers continue to bid for the chance to tell one of the world’s most inspiring stories.

Kylie speaks to Justin from his home in San Diego. When he’s not working every hour on appeals with his law students, he unwinds by going for walks on the beach or hibernating in his Derbyshire home on the other side of the Atlantic.

“Maybe I’m not the smartest lawyer in the world”, he says, “but I’m one of the most determined.”

Justin Brooks on Twitter

Marilyn Mulero’s story

Read more about the California Innocence Project

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project

2: The World’s Most Famous Exoneree (Amanda Knox)

American Amanda Knox was an exchange student living in Italy when she was wrongly convicted of murdering her British room-mate, Meredith Kercher.

Amanda spent four years in prison before her name was cleared.

She’s now a journalist, public speaker, author and podcaster… and giving a voice to others who have been wrongfully convicted

Kylie speaks to her about life after jail - and if it’s ever possible to regain your identity after a world-famous court case.

They also discuss Amanda’s most important role to date - being a mother.

Amanda Knox on Twitter

Amanda’s podcast, Labyrinths

The Truth About True Crime

Amanda Knox - ‘A Surprising Gift from my Wrongful Conviction’

This episode features discussions about mental health. If you, or someone you know needs support, visit these websites for more information:

samaritans.org - mind.org.uk - time-to-change.org.uk

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project

1: The Last Resort

Imagine spending years on death row for a crime you didn’t commit.

For people falsely convicted, they face the unfathomable reality of a lifetime behind bars.

The Manchester Innocence Project tries to free such people.

Based at The University of Manchester, it’s a pro bono organisation run by law academics and students. But the cases they take aren’t easy… a letter to the Manchester Innocence Project is the very last resort for most inmates.

In The Innocence Podcast, Kylie Pentelow speaks to the people at the forefront of a rapidly growing movement to overturn false convictions.

The Innocence Podcast is brought to you by The Manchester Innocence Project

Presenter/Researcher: Kylie Pentelow

Producer: Lucy McDaid

Editor: Kris McConnachie

Executive Producer: Professor Claire McGourlay

Donate to the Manchester Innocence Project