The tragic story of Antony Broadwater’s wrongful conviction is essential reading because, although it took place in the USA, there are important lessons for our own justice system. Mistaken Identity In 1981 Alice Sebold, an 18-year-old student in Syracuse University in the US, was violently raped in an underpass amongst broken beer bottles and dead […]

The omnishambles that was a Church of England’s safeguarding investigation made Basil Fawlty’s hotel management skills look exemplary in comparison. But, unlike Fawlty Towers, this was no comedy. When a tiny smidgeon of concern, or more accurately, the rumour of a smidgeon of concern about Father Alan Griffin arose, the buck was passed from person […]

How easy it is to destroy a person’s life. It just takes three easy steps. 1. Make a false allegation of rape and paedophilia against the target of your campaign. Don’t worry if the police find no substance to the allegation. 2. Post your victim’s photo and name together with the false allegation on social […]

Our latest edition of FACTion magazine is now available. Not only is it packed with articles but also beautifully designed. The new academic report ‘Robbed of Everything’, is introduced. ‘Robbed of Everything’ describes the experience of those wrongfully accused who were convicted. You can download a copy of the ‘Robbed of Everything’ here. Download your […]

One of the worst fears of the wrongly accused and their families is that they may face a prison sentence. A new service has been started by someone who has been through the system themselves. Easy Jail can offer advice and support right from the time of an arrest, through court and if necessary, through […]

FACT has known for a long time that the appeal system in England is failing those who have suffered the worst abuse the state can inflict on a citizen, a wrongful conviction. The catastrophic failure of justice that led to over 550 post office workers being wrongly accused of stealing may have been a shock […]

In 2017 FACT gave a questionnaire to its members who attended one of its conferences. The object was to glean ideas on how to cope with the terrible impact of being the object of a wrongful allegation of child abuse. The results of this questionnaire were distilled into a list of techniques and strategies that […]

The title is a quote from an article on Peter Joyce’s new website ‘Blackstone’s Drum‘. Blackstone (1723-1780) famously said “it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” This principle is said to have influenced the nineteenth-century development of “beyond a reasonable doubt” as the burden of proof in criminal law […]

Rosalie Burnett DPhil (University of Oxford) and Naomi-Ellen Speechley PhD (University of Manchester) have just published another important report on the experiences of those wrongfully accused of sexual abuse.

In the first chapter of her excellent book “Wrongful Allegations of Sexual and Child Abuse”, the editor Ros Burnett goes to some trouble to explain her use of the term “wrongful allegation” rather than “false allegation”. The word “false” in this context can easily be seen as a character attack on the person making the […]