The court of appeal heard that the arresting officer in the original trial had died in prison not long afterwards while also serving a sentence for mailbag theft. Steven Powles, for Simmons, told the court: “Mr Simmons has been waiting for 43 years for this day.” The crown did not contest the application nor seek a retrial, he said. “I was gobsmacked,” Simmons told the Guardian. “This is one of the happiest days of my life,” said Simmons outside court after his conviction was quashed. “One of the hardest things for me was that my parents did not believe me because they were of the generation that believed that the police could not lie.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest Stephen Simmons in 1976.

Source: The Guardian January 17, 2018 17:43 UTC