Wayne Darvell

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Wayne Darvell and Paul Darvell were convicted or murdering the manageress of a Swansea sex shop. Their convictions were based on an alleged confession by Wayne. On appeal, it was revealed that notes of intrrogations with Wayne that had been said to be contemporaneous had not been compiled until long afterwards and originals had been destroyed. Wayne was also found to be a serial confessor, but aspects of his confession seemed unreliable (e.g. he said he would take police to the murder weapon but no weapon was found). A psychiatrist found him to be “suggestible and gullible.” Scientific evidence, including an examination of a palm print in blood that excluded the two men, was kept from defence lawyers. A police official also ordered fingerprint experts to stop further work on the print, and detectives were alleged to have planted evidence. Statements by two detectives that they saw the brothers near the scene of the murder were shown to be wrong, as an examination of their diaries showed they had been elsewhere at the time.

View Press (www.walesonline.co.uk)

View Press (www.independent.co.uk)

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