Is this justice? (From The Northern Echo)

Is this justice?

10:25am Friday 19th March 2010 in

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Sean Hodgson has been a free man for a year. But has he really had justice? Bessie Robinson talks to the victim of one of the country’s worst miscarriages of justice.

SEAN HODGSON reckons his story would make a good movie. It certainly has all the elements of a good script – country boy from a poor North-East family locked up for life for a murder he did not commit, then dramatically freed at the High Court after dogged lawyers track down “lost” forensic evidence.

His case filled the national headlines for a few days, even weeks. He was an innocent man who had served more than 30 years behind bars for rape and murder.

The 59-year-old had always denied killing Southampton barmaid Teresa De Simone, but was not believed until original samples from the crime scene were found and retested using modern forensic techniques.

Despite the notoriety of the case, Hollywood agents are so far not beating down the door of his County Durham home, and his life has settled into a quiet routine that can never really be truly normal.

While his London lawyer Julian Young works on a legal case that could net him a huge sum in compensation, Mr Hodgson is building a new life in the bungalow near Crook he shares with Archie, his Jack Russell.

Sadly, the exhilaration he should have felt when the judge told him he was free never really hit him.

With a history of mental illness, he went to court feeling the numbing effects of the 12- tablet-a-day regime imposed by prison doctors.

Even as he emerged on the court steps to wave to the crowds outside, his mind was a blur and it was a few days before he could take it in.

Freed with only £46 in his pocket, he had to rely on the charity of campaign group Justice to find him lodgings and help him get back on his feet.

Unused to making even simple decisions, he had to acclimatise to the fast-paced complex world of computers, the internet, mobile phones, welfare benefits and traffic.

He said: “I thought they were winding me up at first when they said I was free. I didn’t believe it. I had no idea what was happening.

“If it hadn’t been for Justice and my solicitor I would have been on the streets. There was no other help.”

Ironically, if Mr Hodgson had given in and admitted the crime, he would have been freed years earlier with all the support the authorities give released prisoners.

He would have been gradually prepared for release over several months, and supervised by the probation service for months and even years afterwards.

Experts say some prisoners who have been wrongly convicted suffer from a form of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and even grief.

When he eventually came back north, Tow Law-born Mr Hodgson had a spell in a mental hospital and lived in a sheltered home for a few months before he was well enough to live independently.

He suffered an early setback a few weeks after his release, when a London drug dealer gave him heroin and he turned up at Mr Young’s office looking wild and distressed.

The money he will eventually get is turning out to be a mixed blessing. Trusting by nature, he has had to learn to be suspicious after being targeted by conmen and people he knows are only after any cash he has.

In truth, any compensation Mr Young secures will be held in trust by the Court of Protection to ensure it is spent in his best interests.

He has been living off interim compensation of £250,000 that was paid into the fund so he could buy the house.

He said: “Freedom can be a bit scary after 31 years inside, but there is nothing for people like me.

“It has taken a lot of time to adjust. I still can’t get on buses because they are closed in. It can be difficult.

“It is also hard to know who to trust. I stand to get a lot of compensation and people know that.

“I don’t want them making friends because they know I will have money. I could get £1m but I don’t know what I will do with it. I have got most things I want.

“When I first came home, I wanted to buy a headstone for my parents’ grave at Tow Law and I have done that.

“There have been a few setbacks. Somebody stole my flat screen TV which cost £2,000 and I didn’t get it back.

“I do up a few cars and I rewired my house myself but otherwise I just like to go out for a drink or a meal. That’s what I will be doing to celebrate.

“Life is good now the walls have been taken away.”

Mr Young said: “There are 90,000 people in custody and support will be in place for them, yet a man who is totally innocent is left to do the very best he can.

“To their considerable credit, Hilary Armstrong, who was not his MP at the time, and my own MP Mark Field both went out of their way to help Sean and cut though administrative red tape.

“It should not be for our elected representatives to deal with such issues in this way.

“If we can afford to keep an innocent man in custody for 27 years, we can, as a society, afford to look after him properly, at least in the short and medium term, when it is found that the system made an error.

“Perhaps that is one of the tests of a fair society.”