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Alan Charlton 'body in carpet' conviction sent to appeal Alan Charlton 'body in carpet' conviction sent to appeal
(35 minutes later)
A man convicted of the murder of a teenager whose remains were found wrapped in carpet 25 years ago has had his case sent to the Court of Appeal.A man convicted of the murder of a teenager whose remains were found wrapped in carpet 25 years ago has had his case sent to the Court of Appeal.
Alan Charlton is serving a life sentence for killing 15-year-old Karen Price, who disappeared from a children's home in 1981.Alan Charlton is serving a life sentence for killing 15-year-old Karen Price, who disappeared from a children's home in 1981.
He was convicted in 1991 and an appeal failed three years later.He was convicted in 1991 and an appeal failed three years later.
It has now been referred because of concerns over techniques used by South Wales Police to investigate the case. But it has now been referred because of concerns over techniques used by South Wales Police to investigate the case.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has said a number of officers involved in the case also investigated two notorious cases that resulted in miscarriages of justice - the murders of Lynette White and Philip Saunders. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said there had been concerns about the alleged "oppressive handling" of key witnesses by officers and alleged breaches of police regulations.
The CCRC said it had sent the case to appeal partly over concerns about the alleged "oppressive handling" of key witnesses by officers and alleged breaches of police regulations. The case became known as the "body in the carpet" after the teenager's remains were discovered wrapped in carpet in a shallow grave on 7 December 1989.
It has also told the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the chief constable of South Wales Police and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary about its concerns. The discovery by workmen in the garden of a property in Fitzhammon Embankment, Cardiff, was eight years after Karen had disappeared.
The case became known as the "body in the carpet" after the teenager's remains were discovered in carpet in the garden of flats. After failed attempts to identify her body, Richard Neave, of Manchester University, created a clay facial reconstruction of the skull.
Charlton, from Bridgewater, Somerset, was convicted on 26 February 1991 at Cardiff Crown Court and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 15 years, but he remains in jail. Both the reconstruction - and DNA samples taken from the skeletal remains and her parents - helped identify her.
After a failed appeal in 1994, Charlton applied to the CCRC for a review of his case in August 2009. Charlton, from Bridgwater, Somerset, was living at Fitzhammon Embankment at the time she went missing.
Following a lengthy investigation, the CCRC has referred Charlton's conviction to the Court of Appeal as it considers there is "a real possibility that the court will quash the conviction". He was convicted on 26 February 1991 at Cardiff Crown Court and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 15 years, but he remains in jail.
Karen's skeletal remains were found on 7 December 1989 in a shallow grave by workmen digging at the back of a property in Fitzhammon Embankment, Cardiff, where Charlton was living at the time of the girl's disappearance. In 1994, Charlton's appeal was heard alongside that of his co-defendant, Idris Ali, from Birchgrove in Cardiff.
The court dismissed Charlton's appeal but quashed Ali's conviction and ordered a retrial, where he admitted manslaughter and was released from prison.
But following a lengthy investigation, the CCRC has now referred Charlton's conviction to the Court of Appeal as it considers there is "a real possibility that the court will quash the conviction".
CCRC has said a number of officers involved in the case also investigated two notorious cases that resulted in miscarriages of justice - the murders of Lynette White and Philip Saunders.
It has told the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the chief constable of South Wales Police and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary about its concerns.
Following news of the appeal, IPCC commissioner Jan Williams said it raised important questions about the conduct of South Wales Police during the 1980s and 1990s.
"In the light of questions around other similar cases, this clearly raises serious issues for public confidence in the integrity of the force at that time," she said.
"We therefore expect South Wales Police to review all the evidence from the CCRC, make a decision, and record and refer any conduct issues that may come to light and which may then require IPCC action."