George Kelly, hanged in the UK for murder was the victim...

George Kelly, hanged in the UK for murder was the victim of a miscarriage of justice which must be "deeply regretted", the Court of Appeal said. Kelly was executed on March 28, 1950, after being found guilty at Liverpool Assize Court of the murder of Leonard Thomas, 44, the manager of the Cameo Cinema in Liverpool, a year earlier. The assistant manager, John Catterall, was also murdered in a bungled burglary. Lord Justice Rix said that crucial evidence -to the effect that another man, Donald Johnson, had allegedly confessed to the crime -had been withheld by the police, with the nondisclosure of statements depriving Mr Kelly's lawyers of "highly relevant material" and making his conviction unsafe. There was no scientific evidence to link Mr Kelly with the murders, nor was he identified at the scene. The court considered that he did not have a fair trial. Lord Justice Rix said: "In the light of our decisions the Cameo murders remain an unsolved crime."