Richard Coubrough

Richard Coubrough
Date Referred to Court:
1 April 2005
Offence:
Murder
Date of Conviction:
2 July 1971
Appeal Outcome:
not yet determined
Date of Appeal Outcome:
not yet determined
Judgment:
not yet determined

SCOTTISH CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMISSION
NEWS RELEASE
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred to the High Court the
following three cases:
Richard Coubrough - convicted of murder at Glasgow High Court on 2 July 1971 and
sentenced to life imprisonment.
Leo Tonks – convicted of theft by housebreaking and assault to injury at Paisley Sheriff
Court on 7 September 2000 and sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Stephen Maguire – convicted of assault and robbery at Glasgow High Court on 30 May
2002 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment
Notes for Editors
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission was established as an independent
body on 1 April 1999 to review alleged miscarriages of justice in Scottish convictions.
Under section 194 A to L of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as inserted by
section 25 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997) the Commission can refer a
case to the High Court if it believes that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred and
that it is in the interests of justice that a reference should be made. Once a case is
referred to the High Court by the Commission, it will proceed as a normal appeal. The
Commission’s statutory function is to assess, after proper investigation, whether there
may have been a miscarriage of justice and whether it is in the interests of justice to refer
a case. The Commission cannot decide whether a convicted person is innocent or guilty.
The Commission currently operates with a Board of 7 Members, one of whom is the
Chairperson, a Chief Executive, a Director of Administration, 2 Senior Legal Officers, 10
Legal Officers and admin support staff.
For any further general information about the Commission please contact Mr Gerard
Sinclair, Chief Executive, SCCRC, 5th Floor Portland House, 17 Renfield Street,
Glasgow, Tel: 0141 270 7031, e-mail: gsinclair@sccrc.org.uk or visit the Commission’s
website at www.sccrc.org.uk

Killer, 74, dies before appeal date


A PENSIONER has died before the final hearing of an appeal to clear his name over a notorious murder committed 37 years ago.

But Richard Coubrough's fight to have the conviction quashed may be continued from beyond the grave.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh were told lawyers acting for Coubrough are to try to identify a suitable person to apply to the court to continue with the case.

His counsel Chris Shead said Coubrough's last instructions were that he wished the matter to go ahead after his death.

Coubrough, 74, dubbed "The Snake" because of his surname's likeness to cobra, fell ill and died 10 days ago, the court heard.

He was jailed for life in 1971 at the High Court in Glasgow for murdering mother-of-two Dorothea Meechan, 37, by strangling her with his hands in Renfrew in February that year.

Mrs Meechan had left a family party in the town at midnight to walk home via a railway bridge but failed to return home.

Her naked body was found six weeks later by boys playing at a disused railway shed about 2000 yards from the footbridge.

Coubrough, who lived at Dunvegan Quadrant, in Renfrew, at the time of the murder, denied committing the crime and robbing her of a handbag, rings and a necklace, but was convicted by a majority verdict at his trial.

He represented himself at a hearing seeking leave to appeal in 1971 after he was refused legal aid, but his bid to have a challenge to his conviction heard at the time was rejected.

But in 2005 his case was referred back to the appeal court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which was set up to look into alleged miscarriages of justice.

Coubrough served 34 years in the prison system before being freed on bail pending the challenge being heard.

He emerged from jail as one of Scotland's longest-serving prisoners as a small, dapper elderly figure who was regularly at the appeal court in Edinburgh.

Appeal judges earlier rejected part of his appeal, but a substantial part of the case focusing on alleged misdirection by the trial judge, Lord Migdale, remained to be heard and was due to resume today.

Mr Shead told Lord Osborne, sitting with Lady Paton and Lord Carloway: "This case was set down for a hearing to try to dispose of the remaining grounds of appeal. The court has been told the appellant has died."

The counsel said it was under consideration whether an application could be made for a person with a legitimate interest or an executor of the deceased to proceed with the appeal.

Lord Osborne said: "It would seem appropriate to afford a reasonable time for the matter to be explored."

He said they would have the case called again later in the year to find out whether it was to proceed.

Publication date 09/07/08

Jul 9 2008 Paisley Daily Express

A SERIAL sex attacker jailed for murdering a nurse 37 years ago has died before the final hearing of an appeal to clear his name.

Richard Coubrough, 74 – nicknamed The Snake – was caged for strangling 37-year-old mum-of-two Dorothea Meechan and dumping her naked body in bushes in Renfrew.

But Coubrough’s fight to have the conviction quashed may be continued from beyond the grave.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal were told that lawyers acting for Coubrough are to try to identify a suitable person to apply to the court to continue with the case.

His counsel Chris Shead said: “I should say the appellant’s last instructions to me were he wished the matter to be prosecuted after his death.”

Coubrough, 74, dubbed “The Snake” because of his surname’s likeness to cobra, “succumbed to illness” and died 10 days ago, the court heard.

He was jailed for life in 1971 at the High Court in Glasgow for murdering Mrs Meechan by strangling her with his hands in Renfrew, in February, that year.

Mrs Meechan had left a family party in the town at about midnight to walk home via a railway bridge but failed to return home.

Her naked body was found almost six weeks later by boys playing at a disused railway shed about 2,000 yards from the footbridge.

Coubrough, who lived at Dunvegan Quadrant, in Renfrew, at the time of the murder denied committing the crime and robbing her of clothing, a handbag, rings and a necklace, but was convicted by a majority verdict at his trial.

He represented himself at a hearing seeking leave to appeal in 1971 after he was refused legal aid, but his bid to have a challenge to his conviction heard at the time was rejected.

But in 2005 his case was referred back to the appeal court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which was set up to look into alleged miscarriages of justice.

Coubrough served 34 years in the prison system before being freed on bail pending the challenge being heard. He emerged from jail as one of Scotland’s longest serving prisoners, as a small, dapper but elderly figure who was regularly at the appeal court in Edinburgh.

Appeal judges earlier rejected part of his appeal, but a substantial part of the case focussing on alleged misdirection by the trial judge, Lord Migdale, remained to be heard and was due to resume today.

Mr Shead told Lord Osborne, sitting with Lady Paton and Lord Carloway: “This case was set down for a hearing to try to dispose of the remaining grounds of appeal. The court has now been informed the appellant has died.”

The counsel said it was under consideration whether an application could be made to the court for a person with a legitimate interest or an executor of the deceased to proceed with the appeal.

Lord Osborne said: “It would seem appropriate to afford a reasonable time for the matter to be explored.”

The senior judge said the remaining issues in the appeal were of “some considerable importance”.

He said they would have the case called again later in the year to find out whether it was to proceed.

During the police investigation of Mrs Meechan’s murder Coubrough was arrested but made no material statement at the time he was charged.

But he was later alleged to have told detectives: “I’ve been thinking it over and just want to say I didn’t murder the woman. It was an accident. She screamed.”

He was also alleged to have said: “I didn’t steal the clothing. I panicked and only took them to get rid of them.”

Coubrough, a former slaughterman, had a criminal record that included attacking and robbing women walking alone in the streets of Edinburgh in 1957.

During the 1960s, while serving a prison sentence for housebreaking, he escaped and raped a prison officer’s wife.