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Innocent Victor Nealon freed after 17 years in jail Victor Nealon freed after 17 years in jail
(35 minutes later)
A postman who served 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit has been freed after the Court of Appeal heard new evidence cast doubt on his guilt. A postman who has served 17 years in prison for an attempted rape he has always denied has been freed after DNA evidence was heard at the Appeal Court.
Victor Nealon, 53, then of Huins Close, in Redditch, Worcestershire, was convicted of attempted rape in January 1997 and jailed for life. Victor Nealon, 53, was living in Redditch, Worcestershire, when he was convicted of attacking a woman, 22, in January 1997 and jailed for life.
He always denied being the woman's attacker. New DNA evidence revealed the presence of another man's genetic material, three Appeal Court judges were told.
His name was cleared on Friday after judges accepted new DNA evidence. Mr Nealon's barrister said the evidence was "dynamite" for his client.
Mr Nealon has been in Wakefield prison since he was found guilty. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) had referred the case to the Court of Appeal, which heard that DNA material found on the the 22-year-old woman's blouse tarnished the jury's guilty verdict.
'Explosive effect'
Peter Willcock QC said that his client Mr Nealon volunteered to give a DNA sample at the time of the attack in 1996 and no trace was found on the woman's clothing, but tests in recent years revealed the presence of another man's DNA.
"In the context of these proceedings, this DNA evidence is dynamite and, had it been used at trial, it would have had an explosive effect," said Mr Willcock.
"This evidence would have been deployed by the defence at trial and, had it been deployed, it would have been very important evidence, by which the context of other evidence would have been evaluated.
"Had the defence had this evidence, clearly indicating that there was potentially another suspect, then the weaknesses in the identification may well have been enough to persuade a jury that they could not be sure that this defendant was the person responsible."
The judges said they would explain their reasons for their decision to allow the appeal at a later date.