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1999
THE ANDREW SMITH CASE March 31st - from the Glasgow Herald Archives.

Killer to appeal on new evidence

LYNNE ROBERTSON

The case of one of Scotland's longest-serving prisoners was yesterday referred to appeal court judges by the Scottish Secretary to allow crucial new medical evidence to be considered.

Mr Donald Dewar's move in the case of convicted murderer Andrew Smith, made under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act, is likely to be one of the last of its kind.

Alleged miscarriages of justice will, from tomorrow, be considered by the independent Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, effectively removing political influence from the decision-making process. A statement from the Scottish Secretary said: "Mr Smith's agent has been informed that the case has been referred to the High Court. The Secretary of State has concluded that the Appeal Court should have the opportunity to consider new medical evidence in the case."

But Smith's lawyer, Mr John Macaulay, said he would be demanding an explanation as to why it had taken more than eight months to reach the decision.

He said there had been, as yet, no indication of how long it would take the case to return to the courtroom. The new evidence suggests Smith's victim may have died from a fall rather than a blow deliberately inflicted. Smith, then aged 18, was convicted of the murder of Mr Richard Cunningham, 29, at the High Court in Glasgow in February 1977, following an incident at a bar in Larkhall.

The prosecution case was based on claims that Mr Cunningham died as a result of a kick to the side of the head, based on the medical evidence of a leading forensic scientist of the day. However, medics have since contradicted the claim.

At his trial, Smith insisted he acted in self-defence and claimed he had punched Mr Cunningham just once, maintaining the death resulted from striking his head in a fall, possibly some time later.

Smith was released on licence after serving six years, but was recalled after a minor offence in 1985. He was released for a second time later in 1985, but his freedom ended again in 1986.

Mr Macaulay has insisted his client should not have been recalled for "one or two very trivial things".

A portion of the new medical evidence has come from eminent consultants in forensic medicine who believe Mr Cunningham's fatal head injury was far more likely to have been caused by a fall than a kick. - March 31


THE IAIN HAY GORDON CASE

July 23 1999 - From the archives of the Glasgow Herald.

Gordon confident inquiry will clear his name

LYNNE ROBERTSON

A GLASGOW man, who was convicted of the murder of a judge's teenage daughter nearly half a century ago, said yesterday he was quietly confident his name would finally be cleared by a new investigation into the case.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham has announced the launch of a fresh inquiry into new evidence surrounding the case of Mr Iain Hay Gordon.

Mr Gordon, now 67, was convicted of the murder of Miss Patricia Curran in Country Antrim, Northern Ireland, in 1953.

The Scot, then an RAF national serviceman, was found "guilty but insane" and sent to Holywell Mental Hospital.

He was released after seven years in a deal which resulted in the adoption of a new name and a promise never to discuss the case.

Campaigners have taken up what has been described as Britain's longest standing miscarriage of justice in an effort to clear Mr Gordon's name. They believe the new evidence will show the RAF man was framed to protect a member of the Curran family.

Speaking in Glasgow yesterday Mr Gordon, now retired, said: "I am really over the moon about it. We thought for so long the commission were just messing about. It is really good news. I don't like to be over-confident about it. It has been my one aim to clear my name. I feel we are going places now."

The Gordon campaign organiser John Linklater said: "The evidence itself is overwhelming and compelling. There are five or six separate channels which would justify the quashing of the conviction. We are very confident, having meet the CCRC team.

"We are impressed by their calibre but also by the timetable which they have outlined to us."

He said he believed the case had parallels with the James Hanratty appeal, the last man to be hanged in Britain following his conviction for the A6 murder in 1961, which is due to begin soon.

The campaign team has already submitted three dossiers of fresh evidence to the investigation team, which is led by Commissioner Baden Skitt, former Hertfordshire chief constable and includes Mr David Kyle, former chief Crown prosecutor of the central casework area of the Crown Prosecution Service, and two case review managers.

The investigation follows a decision by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland which ruled Mr Gordon had no right of appeal because the original verdict was a "technical acquittal".

The campaign team has consistently lobbied for a change in the law to clear the obstacle and new rules are set to receive their final reading in the Commons next week, a move which it believes has prompted the CCRC to take up the case. - July 23 1999


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