Sean Hodgson, freshly released after 27 years in jail for a crime that he did not commit has been hospitalized and received two stitches in his face after being struck by a taxi. He was jailed for the 1982 murder of killing barmaid Teresa De Simone, a crime that he confessed to whilst imprisoned for a different crime.
The maximum compensation he can receive for being a victim of a miscarriage of justice is £1 million, however, an error by the Forensic Science Service meant that he was not released ten years earlier, and thus by suing the FSS he is likely to be eligible for much more. The FSS wrongly claimed that no scientific evidence had been preserved from the murder scene.
It is because Hodgson steadfastly proclaimed his innocence that he remained incarcerated for so long, had he admitted guilt and expressed remorse, he likely would have been paroled many years earlier. [Daily Mail]
