The justice secretary has said the chair of the body that assesses miscarriages of justices is “unfit to fulfil her duties” following failings in the Andrew Malkinson case.

Shabana Mahmood said she was seeking to remove Helen Pitcher, the chair of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), from her position.

Mr Malkinson served 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit.

He was jailed in 2003 but eventually released in December 2020.

His charges were quashed last year after new DNA evidence potentially linked another man to the crime.

A review has now found Mr Malkinson was “failed” by the CCRC and could have been exonerated almost a decade earlier.

Ms Mahmood said it was “sobering to read” the report, authored by barrister Chris Henley KC.

Andrew Malkinson criticises apology from Criminal Cases Review Commission after he was wrongly jailed for 17 years

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Andrew Malkinson: Investigation launched by police watchdog into handling of wrongful rape conviction as ‘significant issues’ found

“My thoughts are with both Andrew Malkinson and the victim of this horrific crime,” she said.

“Having studied Chris Henley’s report closely, it is my firm view that Helen Pitcher is unfit to fulfil her duties as chair of the CCRC. I have therefore begun the process to seek her removal from that position.”

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