Latest Appeal Fails
On 27th November 2008 the Park family attended the Courts of Appeal
to apply for grounds for leave to appeal against Gordon Park's conviction.
We wanted to call fresh expert testimony relating to the geological evidence presented at the trial in November 2004.
Gordon Park was represented by Mr Simon Bourne-Arton QC and Mr Rob Rode his solicitor. Dr Andrew Moncrieff, geological expert also attended.
A rock submitted to the court in 2004 as exhibit PDB5/19 was allegedly found near some clothing recovered from the lake bed in September 1997.
The prosecution claimed the clothing was Carol Park's although could not find any evidence as such.
The rock evidence was presented to the jury as having rare mineral elements which could be found in rocks from the family home but not from the Coniston area.
The rock was therefore likely to have been taken from the family home to the lake when the clothes were disposed of.
This conclusion was used by the prosecution to link the clothing to the Parks' home and also to argue that it was Carol's.
This meant the killer probably (a) killed Carol Park at her home and (b) prepared the body package there because of the rock. Due to the thorough nature of the body packaging it would take considerable time to prepare.
In the 2004 trial Mr Webster, QC for the prosecution, summed up by saying it was an "incredible coincidence" that the rock bore similarities with rocks from the family home but not from Coniston.
He also argued the only person likely to have sufficient time to prepare the body package at the family home would be Gordon Park.
We submitted the rock evidence was the most significant evidence in the case against Gordon Park as it brought some of the other circumstantial evidence together:
the clothing, the location of the body being prepared, the time to prepare the body, the likelihood of someone else doing this at the family home.
It took three days to present the geological evidence to the court in 2004/5 and was the only forensic evidence suggested by the prosecution to link the disposal of Carol Park's clothes and body to Gordon Park.
In fact the geological evidence was the main reason the trial in 2004 was allowed to go ahead (the charges in 1997 were dropped due to insufficient evidence).
Dr Andrew Moncrieff has now proved that the rare element in the rock PDB5/19 is found in samples from Coniston
and argues similar rocks containing these elements can be found all over the lake district.
In his report he said the original evidence presented to the jury was fundamentally flawed and extremely misleading.
Dr Moncrieff worked with the original prosecution expert, Dr Duncan Pirrie, on the new samples taken in 2007.
Dr Moncrieff believes that Dr Pirrie now agrees with his findings and has admitted his earlier errors.
We now know the rock is irrelevant and this raises the real possibility that Carol Park was not killed at the family home and therefore the body package could have been prepared away from the home by somebody else.
The other circumstantial evidence remains weak, confusing and contradictory.
Legal precedents dictate that new evidence should be put before a jury in the form of a retrial because
the original jury have made their verdict based on flawed and misleading evidence.
The new evidence is strong, forensic, factual and not subject to expert opinion.
In the face of this new evidence there is no real case against Gordon Park and we hoped the appeal judges would see the common sense and logic in this argument.
The judges agreed that the new geological evidence had rendered the rock PDB5/19 now irrelevant but
ruled that this was only one element in a "strong circumstantial case" against him.
Lord Justice Keene, announcing the decision of the court,
said it was not arguable that the new evidence
"raises a reasonable doubt as to the safety of this conviction".
Appeal dismissed.
The family are extremely disappointed with this result and we are considering our next steps.
Gordon Park continues to have the full support of his family and friends, and hundreds of other supporters who believe his conviction is unsafe.
Vigil to mark third anniversary of Gordon's conviction - 26th January 2008
Family, friends and supporters held a vigil in St Ann's Square, Manchester, to mark the third
anniversary of Gordon's conviction. Many thanks to all who attended.
Appeal
On Thursday, 6th December 2007 Mr Rob Rode of Clarion Soliciors, Leeds and Mr Simon Bourne-Arton QC of Park Court Chambers, Leeds
submitted an application to Manchester Crown Court.
Mr Rob Rode : "Having been instructed by Mr Park and his family to review the evidence we are in a position
that we have today lodged Grounds of Appeal against the conviction.
The appeal is based upon fresh evidence that was not available at the original trial.
It is hoped that this evidence, when considered by the Court of Appeal, will lead to his conviction
being quashed and a re-trial being ordered.
Simon Bourne-Arton QC is instructed by this firm to represent Gordon Park."
No Smoke
(The Shocking Truth About British Justice)
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Read how the police and Crown Prosecution Service succeed in convicting other innocent people.
In this book Sandra Lean exposes a formulaic approach used by the CPS and police.
Do you think the system will protect you if you are innocent ? Read on ...
A life-long fascination with the workings of the human mind, and especially the workings of the
"criminal mind," led Sandra Lean, at the age of 32, through the doors of Napier University in
Edinburgh. A single parent of two young children, she studied Psychology and Sociology to
Honours Degree level. A Masters' Degree in Forensic Psychology seemed like the most obvious
next step, until a local, high-profile murder hit the headlines. Behind the scenes, Sandra Lean
began sifting through the facts, only to discover that all was not as it seemed. What she found
led her to other, similar cases, and more patient, methodical sifting, in an investigation that
was to last almost four years. The result was a shocking, but true, discovery.
Innocent people are being locked up in our prisons, convicted of the most horrific crimes,
on a regular basis. These are not one-off, tragic mistakes, but rather, a routine, everyday occurrence.
For every high-profile miscarriage of justice that we hear about, there are dozens more that never
make the news. No Smoke examines just some of these cases, highlighting the very human tragedy of
wrongful conviction, and pointing out the unthinkable: this could happen to any one of us.
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Please email Sandra Lean directly to buy a copy: fionlee@tiscali.co.uk
Circuituous Jury Route
IPCC Application - Appeal Upheld
See Gordon Park's application to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) here.
The IPCC upheld Gordon's appeal against the police not recording 4 complaint points as complaints,
but have allowed the police to dispense with an investigation on the grounds of a 12-month time limit.
This is after the police took 7 years to convict Gordon of a 28-year old crime he did not commit.
The IPCC gave Gordon Park a time limit of just 7 days to respond to the police's application for dispensation.
See how many IPCC complaints are in the press at the moment in this
google news search.
