‘Two decades of vilification’: Andrew Malkinson speaks out as Paul Quinn jailed for rape 20 years after miscarriage of justice
Father-of-six, Paul Quinn, 52, made no reaction as he finally faced justice, 23 years after the sex attack for which Andrew Malkinson was wrongly convicted, in one of the worst miscarriages of justice cases in British criminal history.
A man who was locked up for nearly two decades in one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice has said he has faced "two decades of vilification" at the hands of now-convicted rapist Paul Quinn.
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Mr Malkinson, 60, was accused of attacking the woman in 2003 and served 17 years behind bars. No forensic evidence ever linked him to the crime and he always maintained his innocence.
At Manchester Crown Court, Paul Quinn, 51, was sentenced to 21 years with a three-year extended licence period. The court heard the victim was strangled into unconsciousness and had her cheekbone shattered during the vicious assault.
The judge, Mr Justice Bright, said that internet searches carried out by Quinn in the years since Mr Malkinson was jailed showed he was aware an innocent man was essentially serving “his sentence”.
Speaking following the verdict, which saw Quinn jailed for 24 years following a convicton of a rape for which Andrew Malkinson wrong accused, Mr Malkinson described the rapist as a "depraved individual"
“I am insulted that this violent, depraved individual – who was content to let me suffer two decades of vilification and more than 17 years wrongly imprisoned for his crime – has received a softer sentence than was imposed on me, an innocent man," he said.
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“I got sentenced to life imprisonment and served more than 17 years inside. Throughout that time I didn’t know if I would ever be released.
“Paul Quinn, who has a track record of violence and sexual offences, and who let me rot whilst he enjoyed his freedom, could now be out after just 14 years, and will certainly be out after 21 years.
“I hope that this man does not get parole and that he serves longer than me. Anything less is not justice.
Adding: “I am also appalled for the victim, who has suffered so gravely and whose real attacker has today gotten off lightly. My thoughts are with her and her loved ones – who I hope today nevertheless brings some peace.”
Addressing the court ahead of sentencing, Mr Justice Bright told Quinn: “[You] were only too willing to sit back and take advantage of his misfortune.
“It is utterly clear that you knew throughout that another man had been arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned.”
Mr Justice Bright told Quinn that he had “sat back and enjoyed your liberty at the expense of another innocent man”.
Mr Malkinson was convicted after he had wrongly been picked out at a police identity parade. He also happened to live near the crime scene, a remote area down a motorway embankment, in Little Hulton, Salford.
He was given a life sentence with a minimum term of seven years, but remained in jail for another decade because he maintained his innocence. He was released from prison in 2020 and his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2023 after DNA evidence proved that he was not the attacker.
The victim, a mother-of-two in her 30s, was dragged from the street beside a motorway embankment as she walked home in the early hours of July 19, 2003.
She was beaten, with a nipple almost severed from a bite and her cheekbone fractured, strangled unconscious and twice raped.
Quinn, who was 29 at the time of the rape and also lived nearby, insisted in court he was not the man responsible for the attack. He claimed he had no idea how his DNA got on the woman’s top, which was matched to him in 2022.
Quinn was convicted of the rape in April.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Bright said his victim is a “hero”.
The judge said: “She, not you Paul Quinn, is the person from this case who I will remember for the rest of my days.
“She is truly a hero.”
Mr Justice Bright said it was obvious how “excruciating” it was for her to come back to court for a second time. “She is a remarkable person,” he said.
The court heard that the DNA sample was first identified in 2007 and analysis ruled out any link to Mr Malkinson.
Quinn was required to give his DNA as part of Operation Cube, when police forces began collecting DNA from those who carried out sexual offences in the 1990s.