Brain-damaged man jailed for murder of shopkeeper has conviction overturned 34 years after cops forced false confession
A BRAIN-damaged man jailed for the murder of a shopkeeper has had his conviction overturned 34 years after cops forced a false confession.
The 54-year-old was a teen when he was jailed for shooting Baldev Hoondle in the back of the head in Hackney, east London in 1990.
He was arrested over the fatal shooting during an off-licence robbery and interviewed without a lawyer.
The brain-damaged teen was pressed by cops into making a false murder confession.
Campbell, then aged 21, was jailed for life in 1991 after he was convicted of murder and robbery.
His friend Eric Samuels was found guilty of robbery following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Campbell was freed on licence in 2002 but had to live under restrictions which meant he needed permission to get a job.
He was also blocked from travelling abroad and lived with the threat of being hauled back to prison at any time.
But the Court of Appeal today overturned his conviction on the basis that it was “unsafe”.
Speaking outside court, Campbell said: “The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years. I can start my life an innocent man.”
‘FRESH EVIDENCE’
Campbell’s case was referred to judges by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2022.
He had lost his first appeal and had a previous application for appeal turned down by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Barristers told the court in February that “compelling” new evidence proved Campbell “cannot be” the killer.
In their ruling, the three judges presiding said they had “concluded that the convictions are unsafe”.
They said: “We accept that, considered in the light of the fresh evidence, the rulings might be different.
“A jury knowing of the fresh evidence would be considering the reliability of those confessions in a materially different context.
“In those circumstances, we cannot say that the fresh evidence could not reasonably have affected the decision of the jury to convict.”
‘PRISONER OF THE SYSTEM’
Campbell’s lawyers said his trial jury was not told the full extent of his mental health issues.
The jury did not hear evidence that another man had been named as the gunman.
Cops found a hat belonging to Campbell at the scene of the murder in Hackney.
Campbell admitted the hat was his – but said it had been taken off him several days before the robbery.
The hat contained hairs, but none of them was a DNA match for Campbell.
The gunman was said to be right-handed, while Campbell is left-handed.
Campbell, who suffered severe brain damage as a baby, was pressed into confessing without a lawyer or appropriate adult present.
Before today’s decision, he told Sky News: “I was under police pressure, under duress.
“It was like someone putting you in a room and there’s no way out of it. I felt vulnerable, 100%.
“If they had done their homework they would have realised I was wrongly arrested, wrongly convicted and wrongly jailed.”
Campbell added: “If I win, the choke chain that’s been around my neck for 33 years will come off, but I’m not free yet.
“I’m still a prisoner of the criminal justice system, still under the Home Office because they can recall me to prison any time.”