This is a summary of the key issues that have impacted Jock’s fundamental right to a fair trial.
Further information on the key issues can be accessed via The Case tab. Please see Simon Palfreeman’s plea (PDF) and Simon Palfreeman’s appeal statement (PDF) for detailed explanations.
• The investigation focussed on one version of events – that provided by the group who claim Jock attacked them unprovoked.
• The Investigator failed to secure the whole crime scene.
• The Investigator failed to interview key eye-witnesses.
• Critical CCTV evidence was lost.
• Evidence supporting Jock’s version of events was not debated or explained by the Prosecution or Judge of the First Instance Court.
• Key evidence has been misrepresented in media reports, eg
- “The victims were stabbed in the back” is frequently reported but is contrary to eye-witness and forensic evidence.
• There has been undue influence by the Civil Claimants on Jock’s case:
- The parents of the boy who died blocked key evidence supporting Jock’s case.
- The boy who was wounded blocked key evidence, including his own police statement, which supported Jock’s case.
• The delays in the court case impacted on the evidence given by eye-witnesses before the Judge. This evidence was heavily relied upon in the court’s decisions.
• The Appeal court established that five witnesses changed their evidence.