The murder conviction of Andrew Affleck, who was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment, has been returned to the High Court by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission on the basis that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred.
Affleck was convicted of the murder of three women in an arson attack, and the attempted murder of three others. The SCCRC said that the Crown did not disclose to the defence that a key eyewitness had been charged with drugs offences, and that it had been shortly after this that the eyewitness indicated to the police for the first time that Mr. Affleck was involved in the crime
The SCCRC said they considered the failure by the Crown to provide the defence with this information, in light of the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Holland v HMA 2005 SCCR 417, infringed Affleck's rights to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and may have led to a miscarriage of justice.
The High Court will now hear a further appeal based on the referral.
http://www.thefirmmagazine.com/news/1002/Crown_%27Failure_to_Disclose%27_Results_in_Miscarriage_Referral_on_27_Year_Sentence.html
