Thursday, August 14, 2025

Clive Freeman. UK: (Part 1) Major (welcome) development: The UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission (CRCC) has referred his case to the Court of Appeal', having determined that "there is a real possibility the Court of Appeal will find Clive Freeman’s convictions for murder and arson unsafe" - and noting that, "The CCRC has decided that there is now a considerable body of expert pathology opinion, gathered since Mr Freeman’s trial and appeal, the cumulative effect of which undermines the prosecution pathology evidence to the extent it can be argued it was not safe for the jury to place any weight upon it" - and that, "The CCRC has determined that there is now a real possibility the Court of Appeal will accept this body of expert opinion as fresh evidence and, notwithstanding a strong circumstantial case presented at trial, quash the convictions."


BACKGROUND: From a  previous post of this Blog: Link below: Clive Freeman: UK; Part 1: Has this ex-polo playing soldier from a wealthy family spent 35 years in prison for a murder that never happened?, The Daily Mail (Associate Editor Steve Wright) asks - noting that the guilty verdict largely rests on the opinion of prestigious pathologist Dr. Richard Shepherd, who concluded that Alexander 'Sandy' Hardie died of suffocation as a result of a brutal technique known as 'burking', named after the infamous 19th-century body snatchers Burke and Hare…"On May 2, 1989, after a two-week trial, Freeman was jailed for life. He was also found guilty of arson and given an additional five-year term to run concurrently. It was initially recommended that he serve a minimum of 13 years before being considered for parole. Allowing for the time he spent on remand awaiting trial, Freeman could, theoretically, have been released on licence in 2001. But more than 20 years later, he is still behind bars – having served close to 36 years – because he vehemently refuses to admit his guilt. The authorities say he is ‘in denial’ about his crimes. Those who have supported him over the years include former victims of miscarriages of justice, human rights lawyers, eminent clergymen such as former hostage Sir Terry Waite, and more recently ex-British Transport Police superintendent and law graduate Tony Thompson, who is leading Freeman’s latest and probably last bid to clear his name before he dies. Mr Thompson says the case has ‘all the characteristics of what a gross miscarriage of justice looks like’. He added: ‘A lax police investigation was followed by a failure to disclose key evidence at his trial. The reality was that this was no murder at all, and the death is at best unascertained.’ Freeman’s team has submitted a fifth application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which can refer suspected miscarriages of justice to the Court of Appeal."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In April 1988 the body of Alexander Hardie was found in a flat in Chiltern Grove in London in which Mr Freeman had been staying.   Mr Hardie was found after neighbours raised the alarm that the flat was on fire. On the same day, Mr Freeman flew to America and later travelled to Australia where he was arrested in June 1988.  A pathology expert called by the prosecution at trial expressed the opinion that Mr Hardie was killed, having been suffocated, and was dead before the flat was set on fire. 

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The CCRC is also referring Mr Freeman’s conviction for arson to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the prosecution case at trial was such that Mr Freeman murdered Mr Hardie in pursuance of an insurance fraud and then set the flat on fire, and so if the Court of Appeal finds the murder conviction unsafe, it is likely to reach the same conclusion as regards the arson conviction.  

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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Mr Freeman has applied to the CCRC six times. The first application was submitted in September 2000, and the latest in August 2023. The first five reviews did not lead to a referral. 

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RELEASE: "CCRC refers convictions of Clive Freeman to the Court of Appeal," published by The Criminal Cases Review Commission, on August 11, 2025."

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GIST: "The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has concluded there is a real possibility the Court of Appeal will find Clive Freeman’s convictions for murder and arson unsafe.   Clive Freeman was convicted of the murder of Alexander Hardie, and arson, in 1989 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years for murder and five years for arson, to run concurrently.  The CCRC has decided that there is now a considerable body of expert pathology opinion, gathered since Mr Freeman’s trial and appeal, the cumulative effect of which undermines the prosecution pathology evidence to the extent it can be argued it was not safe for the jury to place any weight upon it. "

The CCRC has determined that there is now a real possibility the Court of Appeal will accept this body of expert opinion as fresh evidence and, notwithstanding a strong circumstantial case presented at trial, quash the convictions. 

In April 1988 the body of Alexander Hardie was found in a flat in Chiltern Grove in London in which Mr Freeman had been staying.  

Mr Hardie was found after neighbours raised the alarm that the flat was on fire. On the same day, Mr Freeman flew to America and later travelled to Australia where he was arrested in June 1988. 

A pathology expert called by the prosecution at trial expressed the opinion that Mr Hardie was killed, having been suffocated, and was dead before the flat was set on fire. 

The CCRC is also referring Mr Freeman’s conviction for arson to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the prosecution case at trial was such that Mr Freeman murdered Mr Hardie in pursuance of an insurance fraud and then set the flat on fire, and so if the Court of Appeal finds the murder conviction unsafe, it is likely to reach the same conclusion as regards the arson conviction.  

Mr Freeman has applied to the CCRC six times. The first application was submitted in September 2000, and the latest in August 2023. The first five reviews did not lead to a referral.  

A CCRC spokesperson said:  

“As part of our review into Clive Freeman’s conviction we have analysed the significant body of expert pathology opinion, and we have also considered our previous decisions in this case.  

“Since Mr Freeman’s trial, there has been significant expert pathology opinion that taken together changes the picture on the prosecution pathology evidence. There is now a real possibility the Court of Appeal will find Mr Freeman’s conviction unsafe.” 

The entire release can be read at:

https://ccrc.gov.uk/news/ccrc-refers-convictions-of-clive-freeman-to-the-court-of-appeal/

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