A man who spent 17 years wrongly locked up for rape has said he was “kidnapped by the state” and forced to live a “false fantasy” by those who insisted he was guilty.

Andrew Malkinson said police and courts had repeatedly ignored his pleas – until Wednesday’s Court of Appeal decision exonerated him due to DNA evidence linking the crime to someone else.

“Today we told this court I was innocent and finally they listened – but I have been innocent all along,” he said.

In an emotional statement, he accused Greater Manchester Police (GMP) of being “liars” and said the last decade-and-a-half had been a nightmare, where he often wondered if he would be killed or would take his own life in prison.

“As a minority of one, you are forced to live their false fantasy,” he told reporters.

Mr Malkinson said his arrest was effectively him being “kidnapped by the state”.

“It has taken nearly 20 years to persuade my kidnappers to let me go… After every parole hearing I sat before a panel who shook their heads at me, considering me to be dangerous,” he said.

“All that time the real perpetrator was free.”

No DNA evidence ever linked Mr Malkinson to the crime, with the prosecution case based solely on contested eyewitness identification.

His case was referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis of new DNA evidence implicating another suspect, who has since been arrested.

GMP and the Crown Prosecution Service did not fight the appeal and the 57-year-old’s conviction was quashed by three senior judges.

‘Murdered in the kitchen’

Mr Malkinson said despite being cleared, he was now “jobless, homeless, expected to slip back into the world with no acknowledgement of the hole they opened up in my life”.

He said: “I spent 17 years on my guard against every threat; 17 years counting down the minutes to lock up so I could be behind my door and safe from other prisoners, safe from my own mind, imagining I would die there.

“Perhaps murdered in the kitchen by a fellow prisoner, or left to die of hypoglycaemia in my cell in the night; or being driven insane by the system and dying at my own hand.”

He said the police, prison service and probation system had insisted time after time that he was a liar.

“They claimed I was in denial and made me serve an extra 10 years in prison because I would not make a false confession,” said Mr Malkinson.

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With anger in his voice, he said: “I am not in denial, I am not a liar – but I will tell you who is: Greater Manchester Police are liars! And they are in denial…”

After the acquittal, GMP’s assistant chief constable apologised to Mr Malkinson, saying the force was “profoundly sorry” for his “horrific trauma”.

“We are truly sorry to Mr Malkinson that he is the victim of such a grave miscarriage of justice, in being convicted of a crime he did not commit and serving a 17-year custodial sentence,” said Sarah Jackson in a statement.

“Whilst we hope this outcome gives him a long overdue sense of justice, we acknowledge that it does not return the years he has lost. I have offered to meet with him to personally deliver this apology.”

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Mr Malkinson, who was speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, also directly addressed the rape victim.

“I am so sorry you were attacked and brutalised that night by that man,” he said.

“I am not the person that attacked you – but what happened to me is not your fault.

“I am so sorry if my fight for the truth, as I knew it to be, has caused you extra trauma. I am so sorry the system has let you down. It let us both down.”

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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