Paul Quinn, 52, violently attacked a young mother in July 2003 – yet Andrew Malkinson was wrongly jailed a year later. He was only cleared in 2023 following a long campaign
An innocent man who served 17 years behind bars for rape has said he is “insulted” after the real offender was handed a softer sentence than him.
Paul Quinn, 52, was jailed for 24 years after violently attacking a young mother in July 2003. Andrew Malkinson was wrongly jailed for the vile crime a year later. He was only cleared in 2023 following a long campaign.
Mr Malkinson described Quinn as a “vile man” who caused “untold suffering” both to the victim and to him. After the sentencing he said: “I am insulted that this violent, depraved individual – who was content to let me suffer two decades of vilification and more than 17 years wrongly imprisoned for his crime – has received a softer sentence than was imposed on me, an innocent man.
“I got sentenced to life imprisonment and served more than 17 years inside. Throughout that time I didn’t know if I would ever be released. Paul Quinn, who has a track record of violence and sexual offences, and who let me rot whilst he enjoyed his freedom, could now be out after just 14 years, and will certainly be out after 21 years. I hope that this man does not get parole and that he serves longer than me. Anything less is not justice.
“I am also appalled for the victim, who has suffered so gravely and whose real attacker has today gotten off lightly. My thoughts are with her and her loved ones – who I hope today nevertheless brings some peace.”
After Quinn was sentenced at Manchester crown court, Malkinson’s lawyer Toby Wilton, of Hickman & Rose, said: “While Andy is relieved this chapter of his ordeal is now closed, it is not the end of this matter as far as he is concerned. Andy is still fighting to persuade the Government to overhaul the scheme by which the victims of miscarriages of justice receive nowhere near the compensation they deserve.
“Currently, the costs incurred in trying to achieve a fair and suitable compensation are deducted from the final amount some victims receive. This effectively means that victims of the most serious miscarriages of justice, such as Andy, are expected to pay for the privilege of securing justice. This is clearly not right, and unfairly affects only those, like Andy, who have suffered the most.”
Quinn’s victim – described as a “hero” in court – said: “After 20 years, I now have justice but that does not change the fact that two lives have been impacted in such a way. I am aware that someone has had 17 years robbed as a result of this case and that stays with me. As for me, the impact will remain with me for life.
“Every day I look at my face, it is a permanent reminder of that night and what I experienced, and I have to live with that. have always been a little reserved, I take time to come out of my shell but following that night, everything changed.
“I live in constant fear – I always wanting to get home and shut the door as quickly as possible. I have my family and husband who escort me to places and reassure me; they try and make me feel safe.
“The impact has been massive but the ripple effect on my family has also been hard to watch- not being able to stay more than a couple of hours at family gatherings, wanting to head back to the room after tea on holiday instead of enjoying the scenery, not opening up about how I feel for fear of not being able to put everything back in its box. For him it was one night of his life, for me it was one night that changed my life.”
Following the sentencing Greater Manchester Police appealed for any other potential victims to come forward.
Det Chief Supt Rebecca McKendrick, senior investigating officer on the case, said: “When Paul Quinn attacked and raped a lone woman late that night in July 2003, he knew what he had done. He knew his crime was horrific and he knew how cowardly he was for watching another man go to prison.
“Twenty years later, he denied it – telling us he would have been ashamed of committing such an offence. Well tonight I hope that shame runs deep to his core.
“We know this outcome has come two decades too late for those impacted by this case. However, we will not allow time to be a barrier to justice for anyone who has further information about Paul Quinn and any further potential sexual offending.
“To commit such a violent attack raises concerns that there may be other victims out there. If you believe you have been a victim or have information you have not yet shared with us, please know we want to hear from you. We promise you that we will support you and we will listen to you.”
DCS McKendrick also paid tribute to the victim: “The victim in this case has put her trust in the GMP of today and finally has true justice. This outcome would not have been possible without her unbreakable strength.”
The court heard Quinn stalked and raped the 33-year-old mum-of-two after dragging her down an embankment near the side of the M61 motorway. She was knocked unconscious after being strangled before being left bloodied and bruised in Little Hulton, Greater Manchester.
Quinn, from Exeter, was found guilty of two counts of rape and well as inflicting GBH and a charge of attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle with intent in April. Mr Justice Bright praised the victim, who was in court being held tightly by her partner, saying “she is the hero of this story”.
He said she “gave her evidence in plain sight of you … with quiet dignity” but through a “constant stream of tears” adding she is a “remarkable person”. He said the woman was “very lucky she did not die” or incur “significant brain damage” in the attack.
The judge also spoke of the “dire effects” on Mr Malkinson, with Quinn knowing his conviction was “wrongful” but also that it was “extremely useful” to him. He said Quinn was “only too willing to sit back and take advantage of his misfortune”.
Judge Bright said it would be wrong to compare the “indirect evil” Quinn did to Mr Malkinson to that inflicted upon the “heroic woman”, but adds that he does consider both acts to be “evil”. It has emerged Quinn is being investigated as a potential suspect in other serious sexual assaults, including three rapes that took place while he was at large.
Greater Manchester Police was facing questions about why he was not investigated at the time despite being a convicted sex offender who lived near the scene of the attack.
Instead, detectives focused on Mr Malkinson, who was jailed in 2004 and went on to spend 17 years in prison while protesting his innocence.
A jury was told that Quinn’s DNA was identified on samples of the victim’s clothing in October 2022 after a fresh forensic review.
Police and prosecutors knew as long ago as 2007 that an unidentified man’s DNA was found on the victim but decided not to carry out further tests at the time.
The organisation responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, also declined to commission further forensic work and refused twice to refer Mr Malkinson’s case to the court of appeal.
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating five former GMP officers on suspicion of gross misconduct, including one who is under criminal investigation. A sixth officer, still serving at GMP, is being investigated on suspicion of misconduct.
Quinn admitted in court that it was his DNA on items of the victim’s clothing, including a vest top above her left nipple that had been partly severed in the attack. He said the woman may have been one of “hundreds” of local women he claimed to have “copped off with”.
He had lived in the area all of his life until he moved to Exeter in 2017 over what police believe was a drug debt he owed. It emerged during the trial that he had repeatedly searched online for details about the case. In 2019, before Malkinson’s case was widely known as a miscarriage of justice, he looked up an article from the original trial and Googled “wrongly convicted cases UK”. He claimed this was because he was fascinated by true crime documentaries.
Quinn had given his DNA to police in 2012 as part of a nationwide operation to get samples from serious offenders whose crimes were carried out before the national DNA database was established in 1995. It was this sample that eventually led the police to him in 2022.
The trial heard he had searched repeatedly “how long is DNA kept in database” in the weeks after it was reported a fresh analysis had linked another man to the 2003 attack.
