The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-03)

The Sunday Times April 3, 2022 V2 13

NEWS

the Criminal Cases Review Commission

(CCRC) last year. Nearly 11 months have

gone by and the CCRC still has not

decided if it warrants a referral back to

the Court of Appeal. A further tranche of

evidence relating to disclosure failures by

Greater Manchester police in its handling

of the criminal investigation was sent to

the CCRC on Thursday.

“It’s frustrating and it’s mentally

exhausting... because you think, ‘I won-

der what is required for them to move

with speed?’ ” Malkinson said. “If new

DNA evidence isn’t sufficient, what is?”

Appeal, the miscarriage of justice char-

ity and law practice representing him,

has made several requests to the Inde-

pendent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)

for a full investigation into GMP’s han-

dling of the case. But so far the IOPC has

insisted it can be investigated locally only

by GMP itself.

When Andrew Malkinson finally walked

out of prison in December 2020, he

hugged his mum, Trish, and told her:

“It’s all over.”

Seventeen years earlier he had been

convicted of the rape of a woman left for

dead by a stranger in Salford, though no

DNA evidence put him at the scene. He

kept insisting on his innocence for the

duration of his sentence — and as a result

spent a decade longer behind bars. But

his hopes of wiping the slate clean have

long since been dashed. Since leaving, his

life has been in limbo.

Malkinson, 56, who lives in a small flat

in a seaside town, has applied for job after

job. On one occasion he was due to be

interviewed for the role of a postman but

it went nowhere after they learnt of his

conviction. Eventually he was given a

position in a food factory, spending all

day on his feet, despite his age and

increasing ill health.

“The job I’m doing at the moment is

really physically demanding. I’m not

young any more. I’m having troubles

with my sciatica and it’s really full-on, but

it’s all I can get,” he said. “I am struggling

to find my place in society — the suffering

doesn’t end when you walk out of the

prison gates. Living out here with a crime

this monstrous as my calling card is more

psychological torture.”

It is not just employers who are horri-

fied. “If I am meeting someone who

knows about my situation, sitting at a

table for coffee, and another person

comes up and is introduced to me, the

first thing in my head is: ‘When do I tell

them, so they won’t feel betrayed later?’ ”

New evidence, including DNA that

points to another unknown suspect and

revelations about witnesses, was sent to

Emily Dugan

Social Affairs Correspondent

Louise Eccles

Consumer Affairs Editor

Andrew Malkinson has struggled to

find a job and a place in society

ANDREW MCCAREN FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES

The real-life

Louise in the

real dress

Future of clothes shopping

... try before you buy with a

dedicated avatar of fashion

A force spokeswoman said: “GMP has

appointed a senior officer to undertake a

review of the case in response to repre-

sentations made by Mr Malkinson’s legal

representatives. GMP is assisting and

cooperating with the CCRC.”

Malkinson still has to have regular

meetings with probation officers, but

these days they are more empathetic.

“[Mine] is quite understanding, she

keeps asking me how my case is going,”

he said. “Of course I say, ‘Very slowly’.

I’m waiting and waiting and waiting.”

Emily Bolton, Malkinson’s solicitor

and the director of Appeal, said: “We

hope the CCRC will do the right thing and

send Andy’s case to the Court of Appeal

so he has the chance to clear his name.”

The CCRC said it would review the

submissions sent by Appeal last week

and decide whether they justify further

investigation.

A CCRC spokesman said: “Mr Malkin-

son’s case remains under review at the

CCRC. No decision has been taken yet on

whether or not the case will be referred

to the Court of Appeal. The case remains

at the investigation stage, with active

lines of inquiry being carried out.”

An IOPC spokesman said: “After care-

fully considering the available informa-

tion, we determined that an investigation

was required... As GMP was at that time

in the advanced stages of investigating

further allegations made by the same

complainant, we directed the force to

carry out a local investigation.”

Malkinson said: “I feel so far behind in

life. I am 56, I should have at least equity

in a home, and a pension.

“I bought £300 worth of shares with

my wages a couple of months ago but last

week I had to sell them to meet my bills,

which include a long-term payment plan

to an energy company. One step forward,

two steps back.”

Freed after 17

years — but still

locked in limbo

A man jailed for a rape he denies committing says he is suffering

psychological torture because he can’t clear his name or get a job

has

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Online shopping often

involves some basic maths

and a heavy dose of

guesswork. If I am 5ft 3in tall,

and the model wearing the

floral silk dress on the

website appears to be 5ft 10in

tall, how much higher or

lower will be hemline be for

me? If the model is a size 6

and I am a size 10, how much

tighter will the linen shorts

be on my thighs?

Retailers are trying to

eliminate the guesswork

online by allowing customers

to create their own personal

avatar to model the clothes,

so they can visualise

themselves wearing the

outfits before they buy.

Shoppers upload a photo

of their face and input their

measurements and new

software creates a virtual

model their size who can try

on outfits on their behalf.

As well as letting them

check the colour and fit of

garments, the technology

aims to reduce the

environmental impact — and

£7 billion cost — of the

customer returns process in

the UK.

I tried out Zyler’s

virtual try-on service,

created by Anthropics

Technology, a British

company. First I uploaded a

selfie of my face and typed in

my basic measurements,

including height, bra size and

dress size. Then, using a

sliding cursor, I altered the

width of my avatar’s

shoulders, waist, hips and

legs — and even the length of

my neck — to what I thought

were my dimensions.

My avatar, dressed in a

tight black vest top and

leggings, was now complete

and it was time to take her

shopping. I browsed the

outfits on Zyler’s prototype

website and found a range of

dresses by LK Bennett.

Clicking on a £499 yellow

maxi dress, my body

replaced the model’s and I

discovered a problem — the

hemline reached the floor. It

was not the dress for me.

Next my avatar tried on a

pale blue satin tea dress. It

had looked fabulous on the

model, but with my pale

complexion it just made me

look washed-out. I clicked

on the bright-green shade

next to it and — hurrah —

found a winner. Staring at

the image of myself in the

dress made it much more

tempting to buy.

The system was not

without limitations, however.

What it could not show was

whether the neckline would

gape or pull at the bust, or

whether it would sit too tight

or too loose at the waist. Yet

technology companies insist

it is a big improvement. Being

able to experiment

encourages people to try

outfits they might not usually

pick.

“Online shopping is

fundamentally a really bad

experience,” said Alexander

Berend, chief executive of

Anthropics Technology. “You

see clothes on a model who

looks nothing like you and

order them, and only when

they turn up do you finally

get to find out what they

actually look like on you.

Many then have to be

returned, which is bad for

retailers and customers.”

The technology is offered

by a few small retailers but is

expected to be adopted by

big brands eventually.

The trend for “casual

returns” — when shoppers

buy several garments

expecting to return some or

all of them — has become a

costly problem for retailers.

According to KPMG, almost

half of shoppers have bought

one or more of the same

product with the expectation

of sending back at least one.

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Editorial, page 22

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