Eminent former judges hit out at 'murder that never was' as experts say polo ... trends now
A major review into a so-called 'burking' murder involving one of Britain's longest-serving prisoners has been criticised by two former top judges.
The pair have criticised the Criminal Cases Review Commission's failure to appoint an independent pathologist to investigate the death of vagrant Alexander Hardie in 1988, in the light of evidence that points to natural causes.
Clive Freeman, an ex-polo-playing landowner, now 80, was convicted in 1989 of murdering Mr Hardie with a suffocation technique – dubbed burking – made famous by 19th Century 'body-snatchers' William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to doctors for dissection.
According to the prosecution pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, Freeman used burking to kill Mr Hardie, 49, in South London, as part of a £300,000 insurance swindle. But as revealed by the Mail, eight pathologists and forensic experts have debunked the theory.
Freeman has always denied murder, but 35 years after his conviction is still in prison.
Clive Freeman, an ex-polo-playing landowner, now 80, was convicted in 1989 of murdering Mr Hardie with a suffocation technique – dubbed burking
Top judges have criticised the Criminal Cases Review Commission's failure to appoint an independent pathologist in the light of evidence that points to natural causes
An artists impression of the victim, Alexander Hardie
Last week a major investigation by this newspaper disclosed a key prosecution witness has retracted his statement and prosecutors are facing claims that important documents were not disclosed to defence lawyers ahead of Freeman's Old Bailey trial. Now retired Old Bailey judge Wendy Joseph KC has expressed concerns about the CCRC's handling of Freeman's case, which it is reviewing for a fifth time.
In a statement sent to the CCRC she said: 'The jury were told there were two theories – either death by suffocation caused by a deliberate act designed to cause death (a la Burke and Hare) or death by natural causes.
'What they were never told was
