Father of 6 imprisoned for rape following one of U.K.’s worst miscarriages of justice

Paul Quinn is seen in this undated image. (Greater Manchester Police)

LONDON — A father of six was sentenced Friday to 21 years in prison for a rape 23 years ago that another man had been wrongly convicted of, in what is widely considered to have been one of the U.K.’s worst miscarriages of justice in recent years.

Paul Quinn, 52, was found guilty in April following a six-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. Quinn’s sentence comprises 21 years in custody with an extended licence of three years when he will be let out of prison but subject to release conditions. He will be eligible for parole in 14 years.

“You sat back and enjoyed your liberty at the expense of an innocent man,” Justice Robert Bright told Quinn at Friday’s sentencing hearing.

Quinn was aged 29 at the time of the rape but had been a sex offender from the age of 12.

Andrew Malkinson, 60, had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal in July 2023 after DNA evidence linked Quinn to the crime. Malkinson spent 17 years behind bars for the brutal 2003 attack on a 33-year-old woman in Greater Manchester, who had picked him out from a police lineup.

The judge described the woman Quinn attacked, who twice had to endure giving evidence at a trial, as “heroic.”

Malkinson, who was working as a security guard at a local shopping center at the time of the attack, was found guilty in 2004 and sentenced to a minimum term of seven years.

He always maintained his innocence and as a result served an additional 10 years behind bars. He was eventually released from prison in 2020, but his name remained on Britain’s sex offenders register.

Advancements in genetic technology allowed Malkinson’s legal team and the legal charity Appeal to find Quinn’s DNA on fragments of the victim’s clothing.

Malkinson is seeking recompense from British authorities for the time he spent in prison.

“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,” said Toby Wilton, of law firm Hickman & Rose, which represents Malkinson. “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.”

Fallout from the case continues, with a public inquiry now underway after a 2024 review found failings that could have exonerated Malkinson a decade before he was eventually released from prison.

Five former Greater Manchester Police officers, and one currently serving with the force, are under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, with both the chair and chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission having resigned.

The police force has since apologized to Malkinson.

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press

Resources for sexual assault survivors in Canada

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

• Call 911 if you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety.
• The Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres' website has a comprehensive list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling. 
• The Ending Violence Association of Canada‘s website has links to helplines, support services and locations across Canada that offer sexual assault kits.
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis lines: [phone] or [phone] (24/7)
• Toronto Rape Crisis Centre crisis line: [phone] (24/7)
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone] (24/7)
• Trans Lifeline: [phone]
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 988 (24/7)
• Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre for current and former Canadian Armed Forces members: [phone]
• Read about your rights as a victim on the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime website.