Sack WFH justice boss over Andrew Malkinson scandal, MPs demand
In a scathing report, the Commons justice committee said Karen Kneller, the chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), and other bosses were 'more concerned with defending their own reputation' than offering an honest assessment of how they had failed Mr Malkinson.
The CCRC was blamed for a 'catalogue of failures' that led to Mr Malkinson spending 17 years in jail for a rape that he did not commit before he was released in 2020.
A report for the Government by barrister Chris Henley found the CCRC had missed opportunities to exonerate Mr Malkinson much earlier even after compelling DNA evidence emerged. He found the CCRC should have granted him a fresh appeal as early as 2009.
The committee said the CCRC's handling of Mr Henley's report had been 'incompetent,' concluding: 'The level of delay and the attempt to minimise the damage to the CCRC's reputation were a spectacular failure of leadership.'
It said that by failing to offer Mr Malkinson a 'timely apology' and even seeking to claim credit for his eventual acquittal, the CCRC bosses had 'caused significant damage to the organisation's reputation'.
The committee added: 'The CCRC's statements gave the impression that the organisation and its leadership were more concerned with defending their own reputation than offering an honest assessment of how they had failed Andrew Malkinson.'
'Difficult and turbulent period'
Helen Pitcher quit as chairman of the CCRC in January after Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, instituted moves to remove her. In her resignation letter, she claimed she had been scapegoated.
The MPs said that four months on, the organisation had still not found someone to replace her as an interim chairman, which was an 'unacceptably long period of time… to be without a chair, particularly following a difficult and turbulent period'.
They were also 'shocked' to discover that the CCRC leadership had decided all staff should work fully from home, which was 'quite out of line' with the rest of the public sector where hybrid working prevailed.
Ms Kneller and Amanda Pearce, the operations director, admitted they only came into the office 'one or two days every couple of months'.
Ms Pearce told the committee: 'Our staff are connected, they can speak to each other at any time they like. There's no magic to doing work in the office. It's 2025.'
However, the MPs said: 'Fundamentally, we question whether fully remote working is right for the commission and urge the interim chair to evaluate its impact on the commission's efficiency, the quality of casework and on staff wellbeing and morale.'
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