Commissions
Greenlit: Conviction: Murder At The Station, BBC2
Inside Justice is a specialist charity led by Louise Shorter, supported by a panel of criminal lawyers, ex-police officers and forensics experts who offer assistance to prisoners who are protesting their innocence. In this series we meet Louise as she investigates a case, looking for evidence that could present grounds to bring an appeal – and ultimately overturn the conviction of a Southampton man in prison for the murder of his secret lover.
The Case
On 17 October 2008, Paula Poolton went missing; her body was found 11 days later in the boot of her car parked outside the local railway station. During the police enquiries, it was revealed that Paula and a man named Roger Kearney had been having an affair. Their relationship soon became the focus of police investigations.
On the night in question, Kearney says he ate dinner at home and watched television with his partner before driving to his night shift at the post office. Although no forensic evidence was found linking Kearney to the car where Paula’s body was discovered, in 2010 he was charged and later convicted of the murder.
By maintaining his innocence, Kearney remains ineligible for parole. After reviewing the details of the trial, Louise agrees to investigate the case.
The Search For New Evidence
Across episodes, cameras follow as Louise works diligently to explore every avenue of the case. Tracing the many stages of her research and investigation, Conviction: Murder At The Station sets out to reveal what is involved in the process of presenting this particular claim to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in the hope of getting that exceptionally rare referral to the Court of Appeal.
In the search for new leads, Louise revisits the crime scene with criminal lawyer Correna, and explores whether anything could have been missed from the CCTV footage – a key part of the prosecution’s winning case. And, invoking the expertise of blood pattern analysis expert Jo, the women set out to pull together as much new information as they can find. With the passage of time since the murder and Kearney’s conviction, the panel of experts gather to discuss whether any new forensics tests now exist, some 8 years later, that could offer new routes for Inside Justice to explore.
Platform: BBC2
Producer: Raw TV
TX: 21st September 2016
Source: BBC press release
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