Gary Critchley – Prisoner of the State, May 1981-March 2012

In June 1980 Critchley was found lying unconscious outside a London squat. He had suffered head injuries, a broken back, ankle and wrist. Critchley was wearing a boot on one foot and an undone trainer, two sizes too small, on the other. Police searched the squat and found the body of Edward McNeill who had been brutally beaten to death. A bloody imprint at the murder scene matched the trainer on Critchley’s foot and he was arrested.

Critchley was charged with murder and subsequently convicted. He was ordered to be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence. The judge recommended that he should receive a maximum tariff of nine years.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Critchley

“England is a supposed model of democracy and justice, yet ironically I have so far been made to serve longer for being rebellious and non-conformist than the Yorkshire Ripper has for 13 serial Killings. Nowadays, painting is the only thing that keeps me alive.”  ~Gary Critchley

“What strikes us about this case is that the evidence used to convict Gary in 1981 was only circumstantial. There are a number of threads in the original prosecution case we believe we can pull at and unravel. Firstly, the victim was hit with a hammer 27 times and was completely drained of blood. Apparently the whole scene was covered in his blood – and yet none of the victim’s blood was found on Gary. It was argued at the time that the blood had been washed off Gary because he had spent some time lying in the rain, but simple common sense tells us this needs more investigation.”

From Gary Critchley – Prisoner of the State May 1981 – March 2012: http://www.mojuk.org.uk/2003/GaryCritchley.html