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Channel 4's Trial and Error investigated real-life miscarriages of justice in the courts' system and aimed to set them right.
1995
George McPhee, sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and assault when in 1984 a woman, Elizabeth "Totsie" Sutherland, was strangled and then stabbed during the burglary of her cottage in the Scottish Highlands. McPhee was a getaway driver in a series of burglaries, but he had an alibi to show he was committing crimes many miles away at the time of the killing.
After the law overrode the findings of the previous episode about this case - in the main that elderly people with dementia can often surprise younger, fitter people with their physical movements - this update sources further evidence.
1995
1987: Brian Parsons, charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the beating to death of an 84-year old Devonshire woman in her own home. Ivy Batten was a popular lady, known to many people through her habit of waving to passing trains. But it appears the only reason the police knew 'Bunny' Parsons was on the scene was from reports he, a young man of childlike innocence, had made himself.
1992: Jason Warr, charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal killing by 35 blows of a claw hammer of insurance salesman Paul Newman of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. With Newman's estranged wife having a solid alibi, her daughter's boyfriend became the focus of the police's attention. But the trap which lured Newman to his death seems far too sophisticated for a teenager to come up with, and in any case he seemingly did not have access to any telephone to do so.
1994
1983: Peter Alan Fell, charged with double murder and sentenced to life for the 1982 stabbing of two women dog walkers on Aldershot Common, after he made a series on anonymous telephone calls to the police. But despite spending 12 years in prison, it seems Fell was just an attention-seeker, as he does not match the original descriptions given by witnesses.
1989: Gary Mills and Tony Poole, sentenced to life for murder, after a fight between a group of criminals in a flat in Gloucester resulted in the later death of Hensley Hendrix 'Willy' Wiltshire. Mills claimed he acted in self defence, Poole denied being involved at all. This investigation finds all of the witnesses appear to be unreliable, and that the victim need not even have died.
1992: Sheila Bowler, charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of her husband's 89-year old aunt. When the two women went for a drive together, Mrs. Bowler says the car got into trouble, so she went for help, and upon returning the elder lady had gone. She was later found floating in the river. However, doubt is cast by the difficulty Mrs. Bowler, not a young woman herself, would have had in manoeuvring a lady who apparently could only walk with the aid of a frame and pushing her in, all in pitch darkness.
1981: Raymond Gilmour, charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment under Scottish law, after the violent assault and killing of 16-year old schoolgirl Pamela Hastie in Rannoch woods in Johnstone, Renfrewshire. Gilmour admitted to the crime, but was this just because he was a timid, eager-to-please lad? His description of the events did not even appear to match the evidence, but the police had a 100% clear-up rate which they did not want to break. And with a previous history as a flasher, Gilmour could have been an ideal candidate.
Streaming availability information not available
1993
1989: Mary Veronica Druhan, charged with double murder and sentenced to life for a 1988 arson attack on a house used as a squat by alcoholics and vagrants in Kingston upon Thames. But with eyesight problems and arthritis, was she really capable of lighting fires and escaping without a splash of accelerant on her person?
1985: Mark Cleary, charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment when a ten-year old boy, Wayne Keeton, is assaulted and thrown into a river in the village of Bestwood near Nottingham. This happened despite a murderer, Philip Atherton already being identified, after he changed his story to make Cleary an accomplice.
David Jessel
Himself (Reporter)
1983: Danny McNamee, sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy to cause explosions for a 1982 bomb in Hyde Park which killed four soldiers, after explosives are found hidden in woodlands. However, this investigation casts doubt on the fingerprint evidence which was principal in the conviction.
2000
An investigation into the case of Nick Tucker who was convicted of murdering his wife.
1996
Eddie Gilfoyle, sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, when his eight-and-a-half month pregnant wife Paula is found hanging in their home in Upton, Merseyside, shortly after she had announced that the baby was not his. Originally believed to be a suicide, evidence came to light that Eddie had asked his wife to draft suicide notes for a work project. However, this investigation uncovers a history of deep unhappiness and self-doubt in Paula.
Jamil Chowdhray, sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, when two men rob a petrol station in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire at gunpoint, killing 17-year old customer Raymond Kelly. At his place of work, the police discovered a number plate reported to be at the scene of the crime. However, CCTV points to the assailant being the wrong height to be the very tall Chowdhary.
1998
An investigation covering the case of TC Campbell and Joe Steele - the two men convicted of the murders of the Doyle family from Glasgow in 1984 in what became known as 'The Ice Cream Wars'.
1999