In April 2023 David Wilson, described as a “leading criminologist” by mainstream media, stated via the Herald here;
I’ve never needed to be convinced that miscarriages of justice happen in Scotland.
David Wilson – via the Herald – April 2023
David Wilson continues to fail to address the very real innocence fraud phenomenon, which Jodi Jones’ murderers public relations spin campaign most definitely is, and has been.
The next sentence in his 2023 article plugged a book he had written on another murderer called George Beattie, who murdered Margaret McLaughlin in Carluke, Lanarkshire on 6th July 1973.
Margaret McLaughlin was 23 years old when she found stabbed to death multiple times, in a woodland known locally as Colonel’s Glen, near to Carluke railway station.
George Beattie admitted his guilt to his murder.
Projection
David Wilson stated towards the end of his article;
The Scottish Criminal Justice System never seems keen to admit to its mistakes but, as I have always argued, a judicial system cannot call itself mature and civilised unless it’s prepared to hold its hands up and admit when it gets things wrong.
David Wilson – via the Herald – April 2023
The above reads like David Wilson’s psychological projections.
Irresponsible Claims
David Wilson’s allegation that Jodi Jones’ “killer is still to be brought to justice” was (and still is) arrogant and extraordinarily offensive, especially to Jodi Jones’ loved ones and to all those people who brought Jodi Jones’ murderer to justice.
It was also an immensely irresponsible move on David Wilson’s part.
Many vulnerable individuals have been groomed and conned by Jodi Jones’ murderer and his chief enablers over the years.
The indoctrination and psychological manipulation experienced by these individuals will no doubt take them a long time to reverse (or deprogram) and recover from.
David Wilson failed to carry out his due diligence.
He also disingenuously attempted to give the public the impression he had read trial transcripts, stating “I have been able to: read transcripts from Luke’s trial…”.
Trial transcripts were not in the public domain in 2023, and the testimony of many of the witnesses who gave evidence during the murderers 2004/05 trial, have never been transcribed.
However, now that transcripts are finally being published, they tell a very different narrative to the one told over these past two decades by the murderer, his enablers and the mainstream media.
Links to trial transcripts can be found by tapping on the button below;
On the 5th October 2023 Joel Waldman from the STS YouTube channel spoke Shawn Rech, the director and producer of Convicting A Murderer, alongside reporter Angenette Levy.
Referring to the Netflix TV show Making A Murderer – Shawn Rech stated;
I watched it I believed it
And then I read
Two weeks later
I read an article in the New Yorker written by Kathryn Schulz
Saying ‘here’s everything they left out’
And arh it was a lot – that they left out
And then I read another story, and I think Salon or Slate by Bronwen Dickey
It was about the emotional manipulation in the filmmaking of making a murderer
So I just sort of as a fan
Arh was waiting for the response piece
I said ‘boy somebodies gonna make a slap back’
And I was making a lot of money off of Making a murderer
Because when people were done
I would be on those lists of things that you might want to consider if you
If you had a hankering for more of that type of programming
So it was good for my industry
But, but when I found out how deceptive it was
I realised it’s bad for my industry
And someone’s gotta set the record straight
So it wasn’t until two years later that erm Tom Fassbender and Ken Kratz saw Making a murderer
And they characterise it as the first time someone had exposed what they call ‘the innocence industry’
Which is a cabal of journalists, attorneys and professors
Who, you know, pop people out of prison
And then win big law suits
And erm, I didn’t know I was doing that with Andrew Hale when I made, you know A Murder In The Park
But they saw it and they said ‘we trust you with our story’
An online search throws up nothing regarding Tom Fassbender and/or Ken Kratz making a reference to “the innocence industry”.
Ken Kratz did state in his book;
Obsession with a convoluted case and the accused’s guilt or innocence is nothing new.
Some of us may remember Cleveland neurosurgeon Sam Sheppard who, in 1954, was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Marilyn.
Speculation, often about facts not in evidence, ran rampant, both in the newspapers and on “new media”—at the time, television. Sheppard won a new trial as a result, and walked free.
Excerpts by Ken Kratz from his book Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery and What Making a Murderer Gets Wrong published in October 2019
Ken Kratz made no mention of “the innocence industry” in his book.
Where can the public read or listen to Tom Fassbender and Ken Kratz make reference to “the Innocence industry”?
It became clear in March 2021 that Michael Naughton’s statement to Lawrence Cawley in August 2013 (following the exposure of Simon Hall’s factual guilt) was a meaningless, throwaway comment;
It is quite sad in terms of the waste of resources and the distress to (Mrs Albert’s) family members when it turns out like this
And it also became clear Michael Naughton was/is without doubt;
someone who confidently asserts themselves towards a false truth in the presence of others. Even when the rest of the people there know that they are completely wrong
And unfortunately people who are unfamiliar with the innocence fraud phenomenon are continuing to be duped and exploited by Michael Naughton and people like him.
Outdated Claims Of ‘Innocence’
Then assistant director of the now defunct UK Innocence Project Gabe Tan alongside founder Michael Naughton Photo courtesy of the Guardian’s 2011 article ‘The Innocence Project: the court of last resort’
More than four years ago the University of Bristol (UoB) Innocence Project decided to fight the conviction of a man accused of a brutal murder. Through months of investigation and the healthy scepticism of former Bristol student Gabe Tan, the case of Simon Hall was brought to appeal at the High Court.
Hall was charged with the murder of a 79-year-old woman, Joan Albert, in 2001, but has maintained his innocence throughout the eight years he has spent in prison. But only through the efforts of research assistant Tan and founder of the UK arm of the Innocence Project Dr Michael Naughton was key evidence against Hall called into question.
“I’m quite a sceptical person,” says Tan. “I don’t just take things on face value. And what got me interested in this project was that I want to know the truth, especially when someone has been accused of a serious crime. I’ve learnt so much from working on this case. It’s opened my eyes to how forensic science can go wrong and given me a lot of skills.”
Gabe Tan was described by Michael Naughton in 2013 as being “upset” and “in tears” following the exposure of Simon Hall’s guilt to his murder of Joan Albert.
Gabe Tan can be seen towards the end of a video here with Michael Naughton. The video is called ‘Claims of Innocence’ which was the title of a book Michael and Gabe wrote and published and can be downloaded for free here. The first statement in the download is by a man called Paul Blackburn who stated;
Paul Blackburn
The withholding or lack of information was one of the most important factors in both my conviction and overlong incarceration. In 1978 when I was convicted, there were no information packs handed out in prison. I was ignorant of the case against me and of the legal process used to help convict me. I learned the rules and regulations of prison as they were used to batter me into submission. Information was one of the most important factors in my eventual release
Paul Blackburn
The Alleged “40 Year Old Virgin”
Paul Blackburn
It is not known who exactly Paul Blackburn was referring to when he stated “they were used to batter meinto submission” but it was not the police who arrested and questioned him for his crimes.
Glyn Maddocks
Stephanie Bon
Paul Blackburn was convicted of attempted murder andrape of a 9 year old boy referred to as ‘L’ and was represented by Glyn Maddocks (Referred to in Part 19k here) and was also mentioned by Stephanie Bon in her March 2010 statement (Read more in Part 18d here).
Paul was released from custody in March 2003 on a life licence having served 24 years for his crimes. At some point Stephanie Bon met up with Paul Blackburn and stated of him in 2010 “Paul B, I love you forever”.
In June 2009 Peter Walker spoke to Paul Blackburn and published an article in the Guardian (Read more here) in which Paul alleged he was “a 40-year-old virgin”.
The attack on the 9 year old boy ‘L’, by a then 14 year old Paul Blackburn was described by the court of appeal judges as follows;
The attack took place on the afternoon of Sunday 25th June 1978, probably at around 4.30 pm. The victim, L, was walking by a canal near an area known as Seven Arches, Great Sankey, Warrington, when he was accosted by a youth who threatened him with a knife. L was made to go with the youth to a nearby disused sewage works, where he was forced into a brick shelter. There he was made to remove his clothes and to perform oral sex on the youth, who then attempted to commit anal rape on him, ejaculating down the victim’s leg. The victim was then kicked repeatedly and stabbed before being covered with a board and a large quantity of heavy bricks.
When the victim failed to return home the police were informed and a search commenced. The following day, some 28 hours after the attack, he was found still concealed in the disused sewage works. He was alive but badly injured. It was patently a horrific attack.
Dr Michael Naughton, Founder and Co-ordinator of the Innocence Network UK and Bristol University lecturer, who is hosting the event, said: “Contrary to popular perceptions, the Criminal Cases Review Commission was not designed to rectify the errors of the system and ensure that the innocent overturn their wrongful convictions.
There is no evidence that Paul Blackburn was, or is, factually innocent of the crimes for which he was originally convicted and Paul’s pubic relations campaign has all the hallmarks of the innocence fraud phenomenon.
Euan McIlvride (Who set up the now dissolved company Ghost Rock LLP in May 2015) described here as a volunteer and “head of legal” for the Miscarriage of Justice organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland stated in January 2020;
Today on The Guardian online we find a disturbing, but depressingly familiar, tale of the treatment of our friend and client Paul Blackburn, who spent 25 years in prison for offences he didn’t commit.
Again there is no evidence Paul Blackburn didn’t commit the crimes for which he was convicted of when he was 14/15 years of age.
Michael Naughton stated in his (and Gabe Tan’s) book Claims of innocence;
Paul Blackburn was only 14 years old when he was coerced by the police into signing a false confession
Excerpt from page 17 of Claims of Innocence by Michael Naughton with Gabe Tan
But a deep dive into the convictions of Paul Blackburn shows the coercedconfession was, and is, a matter of opinion (The court of appeal judgement can be read in full here).
On the 8th of January 2020 Cheshire constabulary made a statement regarding Paul Blackburn’s court case. Excerpts read;
The Constabulary respects this ruling and instruction of the Court, it should also be noted that the ruling stated that the task of the court was not to say whether or not Mr Blackburn committed these offences, but whether the convictions against him were unsafe.
Following the ruling the Constabulary undertook a comprehensive review of all the available evidence in the case and spoke to the victim concerned and we are satisfied that we do not need to reopen the investigation.
An independent investigation into the conduct of the officers involved in this case was also undertaken in 1996 which concluded that there was no evidence of any misconduct nor was there any evidence to pursue criminal proceedings against the officers concerned.
This case was investigated more than 40-years-ago at a time when the procedures and rules around the questioning of suspects and the submission of evidence were very different to that of today. The 1986 Police & Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act introduced fundamentally changed the way we treat and interview suspects.
Paul Blackburn received compensation even though he never proved his actual, factual innocence. In May 2005 MP Barry Sheerman called for an inquiry and demanded ‘largecompensation’;
Barry Sheerman said: “It is an obscene miscarriage of justice that Paul Blackburn spent 26 years in prison because of lies told by police.”
Mr Sheerman has tabled a Commons motion welcoming the Appeal Court’s overturning of Mr Blackburn’s conviction.
Mr Blackburn, of Warrington, Cheshire, was wrongly convicted at the age of 15 of the attempted murder of a nine year old boy.
The Commons motion also congratulates solicitor Glynn Maddocks, who has spent 12 years fighting for Mr Blackburn. It also demands large compensation.
Glyn Maddocks had apparently previously worked as Barry Sheerman’s research assistant.
In 2017 Barry Sheerman hosted a meeting in parliament, attended by some of the cult-like wrongful conviction movement people like Dennis Eady, Emily Bolton, Marika Henneberg, Louise Shorter and included Teresa Halbach’s killers lawyer Dean Strang (Read more here).
INNOCENCE FRAUD WATCH 