Wrongly-convicted man loses appeal for compensation
A FORMER children's home worker who launched a bid for compensation after he was wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl has had his request rejected at the High Court.
John Siddall, 48, of Carlton Road, Heckmondwike, was jailed for four years in 1999, after a girl claimed he had sexually abused her while he was working at the Rivendell Children's Home, in Dewsbury, during the 1980s.
In 2006, the Appeal Court heard the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) had unearthed evidence of numerous complaints of sexual abuse by the alleged victim – including that she had been raped by 12 Asian taxi drivers – some of which were a "complete fabrication".
Quashing the two men's convictions, Lord Justice Longmore said there was evidence that the girl "thrives on exaggerating events to their most theatrical extremes".
He said the CCRC had also uncovered "evidence to suggest that her motivation for making allegations of sexual abuse was financial gain."
Mr Siddall and another man, Ian Brooke, from Batley, had their convictions overturned by the Criminal Appeal Court in June 2006, but although Mr Brooke was given the green light to claim compensation, Mr Siddall was turned down in March last year.
Despite the Appeal Court's ruling, Justice Secretary Jack Straw ruled he was not satisfied Mr Siddall's case fell within the tightly-restricted definition of a miscarriage of justice.
Barrister Stephen Cragg, for Mr Siddall, challenged that decision before Lord Justice Leveson and Mr Justice Sweeney at London's High Court. He argued the cases of Siddall and Brooke were essentially the same and both men had been victims of a miscarriage of justice.
But Lord Justice Leveson dismissed the judicial review challenge and said he did not consider the two cases "truly parallel".
He said although much of the evidence accepted by the Criminal Court of Appeal was available before Mr Siddall's trial, some of it was newly-discovered after Mr Siddall's conviction.
He said: "The fact this claim fails is entirely based upon the restricted nature of the scheme for compensating those who suffer miscarriages of justice.
"It is important to underline that nothing in this analysis is intended to undermine, qualify or cast the slightest doubt upon the effect of the decision of the Criminal Court of Appeal. Mr Siddall is presumed to be and remains innocent of the charges that were brought against him."
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