Strictly speaking he is not paying for his time in jail but having a deduction made for costs he has avoided that he would have incurred as a free man.
I agree though, it is a very odd law which doesn’t seem just.
Actually his case highlights a far more iniquitous law affecting sex offenders. He claimed his innocence and was proven right. Had he admitted guilt (wrongly) he would have been eligible for courses in jail that would likely have resulted in his release several years ago. Because he didn’t admit guilt, he couldn’t do the courses and hence wasnt eligible for release. That can’t be right.
A local guy - Stephen Downing - was convicted of a murder he didn't commit and spent 27 years in prison because he wouldn't admit guilt.
When he was finally freed (due largely to a campaign by the Matlock Mercury), he was awarded £750k.
He did murder Sewell of that there is no doubt, yes he had learning difficulties but his parents were allowed to see and speak with him and they decided he did not need a solicitor, he worked in the Cemetery where Sewell was found , when interviewed he admitted having sex with her in the Cemetery, the pickaxe used to beat her seven times was his.
When he confessed he thought he was only going to be charged with Sexual Assault , however she died from the injuries he had caused therefore he was charged with her Murder he then retracted his confession, from what I have read the Forensic Evidence proved he did murder Sewell
The Jury having heard all the evidence were only out for an hour when they came back into Court, the entire Jury found him guilty of murder.
On his release from prison Derbyshire Police wanted to put him on trial again, but due to the Double Jeopardy Rule it did not happen
Wendy Sewell was attacked, in Bakewell Cemetery, at lunchtime on 12 September 1973. A witness, Charles Carman, saw her enter the cemetery at about 12:50 pm. She was beaten around the head seven times with the handle of a pickaxe, which had caused severe head injuries and fractures to her skull.[4][5] She had been sexually assaulted,[1] with her trousers, pants, plimsolls and parts of her bra removed by her killer.[6][5] When help arrived the woman was still conscious and she then tried to stand up, before falling and banging her head on a gravestone.[5] She died from her injuries in Chesterfield Royal Hospital two days later.
Trial
"I said I've got blood on my hands can I go and wash them...little did I know at the time that they suspected me!"
—Stephen Downing, describing the situation when police arrived at the scene, 2022[7]
The 17-year-old cemetery groundskeeper who found the body, Stephen Downing, was immediately suspected of committing the attack.] He told police he wanted to wash blood from his hands, at which point he was arrested. He later told police that he had found Sewell lying on the ground, covered in blood, and that her blood got on his clothes because she shook her head.
He was a virgin and had never had a girlfriend.] Despite having learning difficulties and a reading age of 11, he was questioned for nine hours without a solicitor present – although he was in fact allowed to see his parents and they agreed he did not need to speak to a solicitor at that point.
He admitted he'd committed the attack, saying that he had done it.[ At this point Sewell had not died, and he was only charged with the lesser crime of assault. He then willingly signed a confession. After he confessed to the assault it was revealed that Sewell had died, and Downing's charge was elevated to murder, soon after Stephen retracted his confession, claiming he was at home at the time of the attack. There was no evidence to support this claim.
Downing's trial took place between 13 and 15 February 1974 at the Crown Court at Nottingham before Mr Justice Nield and a jury.
He pleaded not guilty to murder, although he admitted to sexually assaulting Sewell as she lay in the cemetery. A forensic scientist Norman Lee, gave evidence that the blood found on the accused could only have been present if he had been responsible for the assault. Lee described this evidence as "a textbook example which might be expected on the clothing of the assailant".
Downing said at the trial that he had been using the murder weapon, the pickaxe handle, to break up firewood.] No full transcript of the trial exists, but it is known that, in summing up, the judge drew attention to Downing's admission during the trial of having indecently assaulted Sewell as she lay injured in the cemetery.
He had also only begun to claim his confession to the murder was not genuine several weeks after he was originally charged. He said he had only confessed because he thought that she had not been seriously injured and would not die.
By a unanimous verdict, and after only 1 hour of deliberations, the jury found Downing guilty of murder.] He was sentenced to be indefinitely detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a stipulation that he should serve a minimum of seventeen years.
Claiming he was in an innocent prisoner's dilemma, Downing was unable to be paroled, as he did not admit to the crime. He was classified as "In Denial of Murder" and therefore ineligible for parole under English law.
