FALSE CONFESSION

Expert Evidence Report on False Confession

Nikkie Allan vs George Heron

Purpose of report1

Statement of instructions1

Details of documents used1

Summary background of the case1

Available Evidences2

Theories and Implication3

Situations of False Confession3

Investigator Bias ness3

Oppressive Questioning Can Result In False Confessions4

Scientific Research on Confessions and Confabulation4

Miranda Warnings5

Facts ascertained From Interrogation5

Confessions and Jury Response6

Breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)7

Conclusion7

Statement of Conflict8

Statement of Truth9

Declaration of Awareness9

References10

Expert Evidence Report on False Confession

Purpose of report

I have been asked to prepare a detail expert evidence report concerning confession of suspect Mr. Heron who is involved in the murder case of Nikki Allen in 1992. The methodology of secondary research is applied to critically evaluate the suspect's confession.

Statement of instructions

I have been asked to address the following question:

In the expert opinion, was there a false confession by Heron in R v. Heron?

Details of documents used

Following reports from different newspapers were used to critically analyse the case:

Uproar after acquittal in Nikki Allen murder case: Not guilty verdict ends six-week trial in which judge refused to admit alleged confession on interview tape as evidence by Malcolm Pithers published in The Independent on Monday 22 November 1993.

Taylor backs judge in Nikki Allen case by Terry Kirby, Crime Correspondent published in The Independent on Saturday 27 November 1993.

There will be no peace for me by Julie Bindel in The Guardian Published on 11 October 2006.

Summary background of the case

Nikki Allan was seven years old when she was murdered in 1992. . Nikki had been hit over the head with a brick and thrashed 37 times in the chest and abdomen. Her body was found in the basement of a derelict building three hundred yards from her home in Sunderland. A neighbour, Heron was charged with Nikki's murder. During initial interactive sessions at detention, Heron denied knowing Nikki, but later he admitted it when he was told of the eye witnesses who had seen Heron and Nikki together on several events of the time. Mr Heron was, however, acquitted by a jury at Leeds Crown Court on Sunday on the basis on non-admissive evidence.

Nikki's mother Sharon Henderson is still fighting for justice. Recent changes are done in the law on double jeopardy which allow the person acquitted in the first trial to be tried a second time if fresh evidence emerges. Sharon Henderson came to know about advances in DNA testing, and she wants Nikki's body to be exhumed and tested for evidence which might help in finding out whom the killer is proving beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sharon Josephine Henderson, 46, of Rosslyn Avenue, Sunderland, has been charged with two counts of harassment.

Available Evidences

The biggest evidence against Heron. After denying 120 times, Heron confessed to killing Nikki. This evidence was declared inadmissible because of oppressive methods of interrogation.

A knife was found from Heron's accommodation. The blade of the knife matched the stab wounds on Nikki's body.

Four people witnessed that they had seen Heron buying Nikki's favourite crisps. The killer used that to tempt Nikki inside the building where murder took ...