Latest news with #InsideJustice
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
My dad was wrongly jailed so now I fight for justice – at least 30 long-term inmates are innocent, says actor Tom Conti
HE is one of our giants of stage and screen, starring in everything from Shirley Valentine to Oppenheimer. Stalwart actor 14 Tom Conti believes there may be as many as 30 long-term inmates in the UK who have committed no crime Credit: Getty 14 After starring in Twelve Angry Men, Conti started tyring to identify potential real-life miscarriages of justice Credit: Supplied 14 Tom as Albert Einstein in Oppenheimer Credit: Alamy 14 Tom with Pauline Collins in Shirley Valentine Credit: Alamy But it was a stage role in Twelve Angry Men that led the Oscar-nominated actor to discover a passion that few movie fans know about. The actor — once described as the thinking woman's crumpet after starring in 1989 romantic comedy Conti says it does not take a rocket scientist to realise there is something seriously wrong with Britain's dangerously overcrowded jails. Read More on crime And the actor blasted the notoriously slow Criminal Cases Review Commission for dragging its feet on cases such as ' Conti told The Sun: 'It's an absolutely shocking story. 'I don't know how this guy is going to manage now. He's been completely institutionalised. 'He's been told what to do every minute of the day for 38 years.' Most read in The Sun 'Damaged my father' Conti became interested in forensics while researching a book he wanted to write in 2014, and got in touch with Tracy Alexander, an expert in cold cases. As a thank you for the advice, he left her tickets for his latest play at the time, Twelve Angry Men, in London's West End. Man jailed 38yrs ago for beating florist to death CLEARED after DNA bombshell They later went for dinner, where Tracy told Conti about UK charity Inside Justice, which campaigns to resolve major miscarriages of justice. It was a conversation that struck a personal chord. Conti's father Alfonso was one of 4,000 Italians interned by Britain during World War Two. They were sent to camps on the Isle of Man in 1940 after Italy's Almost overnight, ordinary Italians were considered the enemy. Conti said: 'Winston Churchill famously said, 'Collar the lot'. 'Collar the lot' 'It must have damaged my father a bit, but he got over it and never resented the British because it was a time of war. 'So, I kind of had knowledge, second-hand, of what it was like to be locked up having committed no sin.' The actor soon found himself on Inside Justice's advisory board, giving guidance on cases to a panel of blood spatter, fingerprint, fibre and DNA experts. It might be easy to dismiss Conti as another do-gooder with too much time on his hands, but he is clearly no pushover. While he worries about the state of the UK's overcrowded jails and questions whether rehabilitation programmes might be the answer, he also says 'we need to take violent people off the streets'. A bear of a man, a charmer with twinkling eyes and an aura of mischief, the actor caused a stir in 2015 when he publicly switched political allegiance from Labour to the Tories. 14 Peter Sullivan, branded 'Beast of Birkenhead', was wrongly convicted of killing 21-year-old Diane Sindall in 1986 14 After serving 38 years, Sullivan was acquitted of killing Diane Credit: Mercury Press Agency 14 Inside Justice is also battling for Roger Kearney, whose case was featured on BBC investigation Conviction: Murder At The Station Credit: Solent News 14 Kearney remains in prison for Paula Poolton's murder Credit: Hampshire Police The Tony Award winner said that socialism was becoming 'a religion of hatred' and even considered running for London Mayor after Boris Johnson. Conti acknowledges there are a huge number of prisoners who apply to Inside Justice 'because they are bored and it gives them something to do', but insists there is a vigorous vetting process. He said: 'It's fairly easy to weed out the ones who are doing that, but there are genuine cases — maybe between 20 and 30 individuals — who are serving long sentences.' The charity is currently working on several high-profile cases, including that of killer nurse Colin Campbell, formerly known as Colin Norris, who was jailed for life for killing elderly patients in two Leeds hospitals in 2008. Originally from Glasgow, His case is currently being heard at the Court of Appeal, where his barrister argued that the evidence against Campbell, 49, was circumstantial, and medical advances could now provide other reasons for the women's deaths. 14 Colin Campbell was jailed for life for killing elderly patients in two Leeds hospitals in 2008 Credit: PA:Press Association 14 Ethel Hall, 86, was one of Campbell's victims Credit: Handout 14 Bridget Bourke, 88, was another of his victims Credit: Ross Parry 14 Doris Ludlam, 80, was also murdered by Campbell Credit: Collect 14 Irene Crookes, 79, was also a victim of killer nurse Campbell 14 Forensics expert Tracy Alexander Credit: Inside Justice is also battling for Roger Kearney, whose case was featured on 2016 BBC investigation Conviction: Murder At The Station, which later streamed on Netflix in 2023. Viewers were left 'flabbergasted' after Hampshire police destroyed evidence that Kearney, 67, hoped would prove his innocence after lover Paula's family remain convinced the cops got the right man, while police claim an officer destroyed the items without first consulting his senior. Conti said: 'Our fibre expert went to get the exhibits but, when she arrived, the police said they had been destroyed. I find that jaw-dropping. 'This was this man's last hope of getting a conviction overturned and this is what happened.' The actor is hugely frustrated at the pace of the Criminal Cases Review Commission which, he says, does not act quickly enough to refer cases to the Court of Appeal — or force the police to hand over exhibits. Conti revealed that Inside Justice has even offered to loan its experts to the CCRC to speed things up, but were rebuffed. He said: 'The CCRC is just not fit for purpose. Most of them work from home when they really should be in the office to discuss cases face to face. 'A real travesty' 'They resolutely refuse to pass cases to the Court of Appeal. They decide whether or not there's a chance of success. 'They don't have any scientists examining evidence and our experts have offered their services for nothing. 'Our scientists have said, 'If you want to send us exhibits, our people will examine them free of charge'. Instead they send them to a lab for 'presumptive' substance tests, whereas we would test for everything.' The CCRC refers around 3.5 per cent of its cases to the Court of Appeal — and around seven in ten of those cases succeed. In 2008, Peter Sullivan, now 68, asked the CCRC to look for DNA evidence that could exonerate him from the murder of 21-year-old barmaid The technique that ended Peter's ordeal this year was available back then — but the CCRC says it was told by forensic scientists that they were unlikely to uncover any useful DNA. There have been absolutely massive advances in science that can reveal new things... the Criminal Cases Review Commission is not fit for purpose Conti says: 'It's a real travesty. There have been huge advances in science over the past ten or 15 years, absolutely massive, that can reveal new things about cases. 'We need the CCRC to move quicker.' Conti might be earnest about the issues close to his heart, but he is also entertaining and fun, with a sharp sense of humour. He's very proud of his daughter Nina, a comic ventriloquist, who he calls a genius for going on stage without a script, and his actor grandson Arthur, who starred in last year's hit Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Conti, who lives in Hampstead, also retains a sense of childlike wonder, talking about how excited he was when he got the chance to sit in He avoided early starts on set by insisting the make-up artist left his wild He said: 'The first morning, I was in the make-up chair at about 5am because the hair had to be done and the moustache curled properly. 'Later that day, I went back into make-up and they said, 'Right okay, we'll get you cleaned up'. 'I said, 'Wait, we're doing four days of shooting, so why don't we just leave it?'.' Conti laughs: 'There were definitely double-takes when I went out for supper those nights.' The star might not be the real Einstein, but he is hoping that, with a handful of clever experts, he can make a genuine difference.
Scottish Sun
16-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
I'm UK's top blood spatter expert…the goriest crime scene I've ever seen & how my grisly new evidence freed innocent man
Jo also reveals the secrets of TV show Silent Witness, for which she is a forensics advisor SHOCK & GORE I'm UK's top blood spatter expert…the goriest crime scene I've ever seen & how my grisly new evidence freed innocent man It looked like an open and shut case - two 'killers' caught running away from a blood-soaked crime scene. The victim was labourer Grzegorz Pietrycki, 25, who died from a slashed throat after jumping from a window at his flat, staggering 200ft down the road and ringing a stranger's doorbell, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. Advertisement 10 Jo Millington is one of Britain's top blood spatter analysts Credit: Supplied 10 In the case of murdered labourer Grzegorz Pietrycki, police initially thought his killer wound had been sustained in his flat Credit: Met Police 10 The killer blow had actually taken place elsewhere, outside of the flat, indicated by the blood spatter on the ground Credit: Met Police Suspicion fell on two friends he had spent the weekend partying with at his home in Wood Green, London in August 2016. When they were caught on CCTV footage running away from the property, it looked like they were bang to rights. One of the pals, Patryk Pacheka, 30, was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey a year after the savage killing. But Patryk's barrister was convinced of his innocence and contacted Inside Justice, a charity which campaigns on wrongful convictions. Advertisement They called in one of Britain's top blood spatter analysts, Jo Millington - consultant to TV show Silent Witness - and what she discovered was mind-blowing. Jo, who has worked on cases like the 7/7 terror attacks, said cops concentrated on the carnage at Grzegorz's flat but failed to examine the pattern of blood that led to the wall where he finally collapsed. She told The Sun: 'On the path between the victim's flat and the place where he collapsed there was a trail of blood which hadn't been examined. 'It showed a spot behind a parked car where the blood staining became more persistent and ferocious, and indicated that the deceased had probably sustained his fatal injury there.' Advertisement The blood spatters revealed that, while Grzegorz was attacked in his flat, the stains on the pavement showed that was where his throat had been slit. Doorbell cameras later revealed that, far from running away from a murder, Patryk and his friend were running away from a third man. It was he who'd allegedly carried out both attacks on Grzegorz. Man jailed 38yrs ago for beating florist to death CLEARED after DNA bombshell 10 Murder victim Grzegorz Pietrycki Credit: Central News 10 Patryk Pacheka, 30, was convicted of his murder but later found innocent thanks to Jo's evidence Credit: Advertisement Jo said: 'Patryk and his friend had no part to play in that attack. He was convicted because the assumption was made that the bedroom was the place where the fatal injury took place, and Patryk had access to the flat.' Patryk was released after a re-trial which found him not guilty in 2021, and went back home to his family in Dansk in Poland. He said at the time: 'Now I am free. This is amazing. I cannot describe what I feel right now. I owe everyone. 'Ten days ago I was in prison and now I am in my house with my family. I am the happiest man in the world.' Advertisement Childhood dream Jo, 52, of Reading, is one of the country's leading forensic specialists with almost three decades of experience. She trained in Miami with the world's eminent blood spatter expert Toby Wolson, who advises on the TV show Dexter. The long-running series focuses on a police forensic officer with a dark secret as a serial killer who murders killers who escaped justice. Jo dreamed of working in the field after watching 1980s drama Indelible Evidence, in which actors recreated the work of forensics teams to solve crime. Advertisement She said: 'My mum and I used to watch it together and I just knew it was what I wanted to do. 'At the time schools didn't like you to specialise too much when you chose your options at high school, so my parents had to ask for special dispensation so I could drop the humanities like geography and history, and concentrate on the three sciences instead.' Peanut clue 10 Jo at work on a crime scene Credit: Supplied 10 The expert helped identify one of the London 7/7 bombers Credit: AFP Advertisement It was a move that brought Jo into a world of darkness, attending grisly murder scenes and analysing evidence. She even helped identify the terrorists who killed 52 people in the July 7 London attacks in 2005. Jo was asked to examine a car used by three of the four bombers who travelled from Yorkshire to Luton airport in a hired Nissan Micra. The car had already been blown up in a controlled explosion, amid fears it was booby-trapped, and Jo recalls having to wriggle through the smashed driver and passenger windows to find evidence. Advertisement She spotted an empty packet of KP peanuts in a side pocket and deduced it had been torn open with teeth. 'The car had been wrecked and the central locking system wasn't working so we couldn't open the doors, but the front windows were out,' says Jo. Life is so finite and people do horrible things to each other, unfortunately Jo Millington 'I was looking for hairs, fibres or any material that might have been left in the car. We swab things that people would naturally touch while driving, like the gear stick, the indicator stalk and the steering wheel. 'I put a little bit of material, sort of like wool, on the driver side window so I wouldn't cut myself and leaned in. Advertisement 'When I looked down at the pocket of the driver's door there was a little empty KP peanut packet and the corner had been ripped open. It was kind of creased and funny looking, as though somebody had used their teeth.' It allowed cops to identify Shehzad Tanweer, 22, who killed seven innocents at Aldgate on the Circle Line of the London Underground. He was the righthand man of ringleader Mohammad Khan, 30, who murdered six with a bomb at Edgware Road. 10 Jo helped recreate this crime scene on TV's Silent Witness Credit: BBC Advertisement 10 Jo trained in Miami with the forensic expert for the TV show Dexter (pictured) Credit: Showtime Networks 'His face was barely recognisable' Jo says many murder scenes she visits still have the victim in-situ, but after years as an analyst, she is now able to detach herself from the emotion of cases to do her job. One particularly gruesome murder in Sussex still shocked her, though. When staff at an architects office went into work one day they saw blood dripping down the walls from a flat upstairs. Advertisement Jo said: 'They called the police who went into the flat and found a man with machete injuries so bad that his face was barely recognisable and the injuries were very severe. 'There was a lot of blood but when you walked about from the deceased, there was a trail of drops that led around the flat. 'In areas where you might stop and look in a drawer or open a cupboard there were even more drops. They called the police who went into the flat and found a man with machete injuries so bad that his face was barely recognisable and the injuries were very severe Jo Millington 'To my mind, that said there was someone else at the scene who was injured. Advertisement "They were dripping blood, which was sparse until they stopped to maybe look for valuables, and the blood started to drip more consistently. 'That blood was swabbed for DNA and someone was ultimately found guilty of the killing.' Secrets of Silent Witness By Grace Macaskill Jo is a forensics advisor to hit BBC show Silent Witness and often recreates bloody crime scenes for the programme. She says the standard of accuracy on the series is 'really high' as producers battle to make it as realistic as possible. She reveals that mushed up mango and other fruit is used for brain matter while there are different types of 'blood' for different injuries. Jo told The Sun: 'The appetite to get everything absolutely right is really, really high. They want to be as authentic as possible. 'In the last season there was a scene where somebody had a gunshot injury to his head. 'An exit wound creates blood and brain, material and bone, and I used mushed up mango for the brain matter. Mashed up fruit gives that 3D look. 'The make-up department is just off the charts in terms of the way they work. There's a wardrobe of different blood types; clotted, liquid and pre-made silicone pools. 'The silicone is used when a lot of shots need to be taken and if liquid blood was used, it would change with each take.' Jo said stars Emilia Fox and David Caves are now getting the inside track on forensics. She said: 'Sometimes they'll ask, 'How do we do this', and you'll be like, 'You've already done it.' They've been doing the roles for so long that they can now do tests in an almost identical way to the real forensics teams.' Bearing witness to some of the most horrific crimes in the country has given Jo a special perspective on life. She said: 'The longer you do the job and the older you get, you start to become more reflective on your experiences. Advertisement 'I think what my job has done is put things into perspective. If something trivial happens and someone is getting stressed, I'm often the one saying, 'Look, this is small fry, don't worry about it.' 'Life is so finite and people do horrible things to each other, unfortunately, but I have a lovely home life that compensates.' See Jo and other world-leading experts at CrimeCon London - partnered by TRUE CRIME channel. Book your ticket today using our exclusive code - THE SUN - and you can save over 40% on your ticket - saving more than £100.
The Sun
16-05-2025
- The Sun
I'm UK's top blood spatter expert…the goriest crime scene I've ever seen & how my grisly new evidence freed innocent man
It looked like an open and shut case - two 'killers' caught running away from a blood-soaked crime scene. The victim was labourer Grzegorz Pietrycki, 25, who died from a slashed throat after jumping from a window at his flat, staggering 200ft down the road and ringing a stranger's doorbell, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. 10 10 10 Suspicion fell on two friends he had spent the weekend partying with at his home in Wood Green, London in August 2016. When they were caught on CCTV footage running away from the property, it looked like they were bang to rights. One of the pals, Patryk Pacheka, 30, was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey a year after the savage killing. But Patryk's barrister was convinced of his innocence and contacted Inside Justice, a charity which campaigns on wrongful convictions. They called in one of Britain's top blood spatter analysts, Jo Millington - consultant to TV show Silent Witness - and what she discovered was mind-blowing. Jo, who has worked on cases like the 7/7 terror attacks, said cops concentrated on the carnage at Grzegorz's flat but failed to examine the pattern of blood that led to the wall where he finally collapsed. She told The Sun: 'On the path between the victim's flat and the place where he collapsed there was a trail of blood which hadn't been examined. 'It showed a spot behind a parked car where the blood staining became more persistent and ferocious, and indicated that the deceased had probably sustained his fatal injury there.' The blood spatters revealed that, while Grzegorz was attacked in his flat, the stains on the pavement showed that was where his throat had been slit. Doorbell cameras later revealed that, far from running away from a murder, Patryk and his friend were running away from a third man. It was he who'd allegedly carried out both attacks on Grzegorz. Man jailed 38yrs ago for beating florist to death CLEARED after DNA bombshell 10 Jo said: 'Patryk and his friend had no part to play in that attack. He was convicted because the assumption was made that the bedroom was the place where the fatal injury took place, and Patryk had access to the flat.' Patryk was released after a re-trial which found him not guilty in 2021, and went back home to his family in Dansk in Poland. He said at the time: 'Now I am free. This is amazing. I cannot describe what I feel right now. I owe everyone. 'Ten days ago I was in prison and now I am in my house with my family. I am the happiest man in the world.' Childhood dream Jo, 52, of Reading, is one of the country's leading forensic specialists with almost three decades of experience. She trained in Miami with the world's eminent blood spatter expert Toby Wolson, who advises on the TV show Dexter. The long-running series focuses on a police forensic officer with a dark secret as a serial killer who murders killers who escaped justice. Jo dreamed of working in the field after watching 1980s drama Indelible Evidence, in which actors recreated the work of forensics teams to solve crime. She said: 'My mum and I used to watch it together and I just knew it was what I wanted to do. 'At the time schools didn't like you to specialise too much when you chose your options at high school, so my parents had to ask for special dispensation so I could drop the humanities like geography and history, and concentrate on the three sciences instead.' Peanut clue 10 10 It was a move that brought Jo into a world of darkness, attending grisly murder scenes and analysing evidence. She even helped identify the terrorists who killed 52 people in the July 7 London attacks in 2005. Jo was asked to examine a car used by three of the four bombers who travelled from Yorkshire to Luton airport in a hired Nissan Micra. The car had already been blown up in a controlled explosion, amid fears it was booby-trapped, and Jo recalls having to wriggle through the smashed driver and passenger windows to find evidence. She spotted an empty packet of KP peanuts in a side pocket and deduced it had been torn open with teeth. 'The car had been wrecked and the central locking system wasn't working so we couldn't open the doors, but the front windows were out,' says Jo. 'I was looking for hairs, fibres or any material that might have been left in the car. We swab things that people would naturally touch while driving, like the gear stick, the indicator stalk and the steering wheel. 'I put a little bit of material, sort of like wool, on the driver side window so I wouldn't cut myself and leaned in. 'When I looked down at the pocket of the driver's door there was a little empty KP peanut packet and the corner had been ripped open. It was kind of creased and funny looking, as though somebody had used their teeth.' It allowed cops to identify Shehzad Tanweer, 22, who killed seven innocents at Aldgate on the Circle Line of the London Underground. He was the righthand man of ringleader Mohammad Khan, 30, who murdered six with a bomb at Edgware Road. 10 10 'His face was barely recognisable' Jo says many murder scenes she visits still have the victim in-situ, but after years as an analyst, she is now able to detach herself from the emotion of cases to do her job. One particularly gruesome murder in Sussex still shocked her, though. When staff at an architects office went into work one day they saw blood dripping down the walls from a flat upstairs. Jo said: 'They called the police who went into the flat and found a man with machete injuries so bad that his face was barely recognisable and the injuries were very severe. 'There was a lot of blood but when you walked about from the deceased, there was a trail of drops that led around the flat. 'In areas where you might stop and look in a drawer or open a cupboard there were even more drops. They called the police who went into the flat and found a man with machete injuries so bad that his face was barely recognisable and the injuries were very severe Jo Millington 'To my mind, that said there was someone else at the scene who was injured. "They were dripping blood, which was sparse until they stopped to maybe look for valuables, and the blood started to drip more consistently. 'That blood was swabbed for DNA and someone was ultimately found guilty of the killing.' Secrets of Silent Witness By Grace Macaskill Jo is a forensics advisor to hit BBC show Silent Witness and often recreates bloody crime scenes for the programme. She says the standard of accuracy on the series is 'really high' as producers battle to make it as realistic as possible. She reveals that mushed up mango and other fruit is used for brain matter while there are different types of 'blood' for different injuries. Jo told The Sun: 'The appetite to get everything absolutely right is really, really high. They want to be as authentic as possible. 'In the last season there was a scene where somebody had a gunshot injury to his head. 'An exit wound creates blood and brain, material and bone, and I used mushed up mango for the brain matter. Mashed up fruit gives that 3D look. 'The make-up department is just off the charts in terms of the way they work. There's a wardrobe of different blood types; clotted, liquid and pre-made silicone pools. 'The silicone is used when a lot of shots need to be taken and if liquid blood was used, it would change with each take.' Jo said stars Emilia Fox and David Caves are now getting the inside track on forensics. She said: 'Sometimes they'll ask, 'How do we do this', and you'll be like, 'You've already done it.' They've been doing the roles for so long that they can now do tests in an almost identical way to the real forensics teams.' Bearing witness to some of the most horrific crimes in the country has given Jo a special perspective on life. She said: 'The longer you do the job and the older you get, you start to become more reflective on your experiences. 'I think what my job has done is put things into perspective. If something trivial happens and someone is getting stressed, I'm often the one saying, 'Look, this is small fry, don't worry about it.' 'Life is so finite and people do horrible things to each other, unfortunately, but I have a lovely home life that compensates.' 10
