A woman whose brother is spending decades behind bars for a murder he has always maintained he did not commit has praised a bishop for standing by their claim for a miscarriage of justice.
The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, supported the family during a heartfelt maiden speech in the House of Lords.
Bishop Joanne told the House of Lords in Westminster that an urgent review was required of the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
The case concerns the conviction of Jason Moore, in 2013, for allegedly stabbing to death Robert Darby in 2005. He was found guilty on the evidence of a single witness who identified Moore from a line-up seven years after the murder in London. The witness later admitted that they had been drunk and were uncertain about the identity of the attacker.
Bishops give a faith-based perspective on legislation and focus on social, ethical and morally important issues, without representing or championing any political party.
Bishop Joanne told the House of Lords last night (18 May): "Both Jason Moore and Robert Darby’s families have spent the last thirteen years campaigning to have that conviction reviewed. Amid fiascos of lost evidence, and problems with the management of identity parades and vital witnesses, Jason is still waiting for the Criminal Cases Review Commission to come to a decision about sending his case to appeal. His case has been under consideration by them for six years now. Miscarriages of justice are not abstract legal concepts but lived human experiences. They concern individuals who maintain their innocence while navigating a system that can be slow, complex, and difficult to penetrate."
Joanne was the Bishop of Stepney in London when she started examining the case local to her and says her faith compels her to see things through when she believes wrong has happened.
Her raising this in the House of Lords will give hope to others campaigning to overturn what they argue are their wrongful convictions in Suffolk and elsewhere in the country.
Bishop Joanne added: "My Lords, wrongful conviction is not simply the loss of liberty. It is the loss of years—sometimes decades. When convictions are ultimately overturned, the sense of relief is tempered by a stark reality: lost time cannot be restored. Careers have been destroyed, relationships fractured, and lives irrevocably altered. My Lords may be aware of previous criticism of the CCRC, and the promise of a review of it by the Law Commission. I hope this House will agree: since justice delayed is justice denied, this review needs to be concluded and any actions that follow from it considered with urgency."
She said: "The United Kingdom has long been seen as a standard bearer for the rule of law, yet even strong systems are not immune to error. When those errors lead to wrongful convictions, the impact is profound – not just for individuals, but for confidence in the justice system. In this landscape, the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission is indispensable. It exists as a safeguard, a recognition that the justice system must contain within it the means to correct its own errors.”
In the last year, the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred 31 potential miscarriages of justice to the appeal courts for consideration. 18 of the 27 appeals heard following CCRC referrals were allowed.
However, the Commission receives well over 1400 applications a year, suggesting that Bishop Joanne believes, while wrongful convictions are not rare, appeals are startlingly unlikely.
Kirstie Moore, sister of Jason, said: "For fourteen years I have fought for my brother. I have lived every day of his sentence alongside him and it has come at immense personal cost. In many ways the years taken from Jason have also been taken from me. There will never be words strong enough to express what Joanne Grenfell’s support has meant to me. Her willingness to stand beside people such as Jason, Robert and both families, simply because she believes something is wrong, is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The gratitude sits far deeper than politics or public support — it is held in restored faith and emotion."
The Moore family have been backed by the deceased’s family in their bid to have the conviction overturned.
Kirstie added: "I think the sheer gravity of this situation is that the victim’s family came straight out of court to find me on the very day Jason was found guilty of murdering their loved one. They had not only sat through the same trial I did and listened to the same evidence, but had also lived alongside the police investigation for years beforehand and been kept informed throughout it. Despite all of that, they knew the wrong man had just been convicted for Robert Darby’s murder. Whilst the Darby family would always have continued to fight for justice for Robert, they felt morally unable to stand by while somebody they knew was innocent remained convicted for his killing."
Kirstie added that the family then went to the Court of Appeal and provided compelling evidence that Jason was not the man who stabbed their loved one – ‘this is something almost impossible to comprehend.
Most people would assume that if the victim’s family stood before the courts saying they knew the wrong man had been convicted, the system would stop and listen. It did not.
People often say it is extraordinary and unheard of for the victim’s family to fight for the convicted. But I do not really see it that way. If you know something to be wrong and the truth to be hidden, then surely everybody should have an interest in right prevailing over wrong."
Kirstie added in her plea to the killer: "My message is simple: Jason is innocent, and you are responsible for Robert Darby’s death. You have spent years walking free whilst Jason has sat in a prison cell in your place. For more than a decade, two families have lived under the weight of this case. We have endured grief, anger, exhaustion and years of uncertainty, yet we are still here. We still stand together, alongside good people who refuse to walk away from the truth, and that is a powerful thing. The evidence that will exonerate Jason is now under review, and this fight will not end until that happens. No amount of pressure, exhaustion or time will ever make this stop.Time may delay the truth, but it does not bury it forever."
Jason occupies his imprisonment by playing chess and he is a role model within HMP Oakwood Prison, Wolverhampton, to whom other inmates look to for advice.
"I think Jason’s approach has become one of endurance more than anything else. After so many years, how you respond to things mentally becomes the only way you can survive the torment. He tries to stay disciplined, keep to routine and take each day as it comes. One quote he often repeats is Winston Churchill’s line: “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” I think that probably sums up his mindset better than anything else," said Kirstie.
Their elderly parents live in Essex and are unable to visit regularly, once a year.
Kirstie said: "The best possible outcome would be for the full truth surrounding Robert Darby’s death to finally come out and for Jason to be properly exonerated, as he should never have been convicted in the first place. Personally, I would also like to see the British justice system become more willing to acknowledge mistakes and correct them when serious concerns are raised. No system can improve if nobody is ever willing to accept responsibility when things go wrong. I think that is fundamental to public trust and justice itself."
Kirstie added: "At the very least, I want the evidence already sitting in front of the CCRC to finally be acted upon. We are long past the stage of there being no serious concerns in this case, and yet years continue to pass without meaningful progress. Justice delayed is justice denied. From where we stand, there no longer appears to be any rational explanation for why evidence capable of exonerating somebody can remain within the system for so long while a man’s life continues to be lived inside prison. At the very least, there should be urgency, transparency and a willingness to make decisions when the consequences are this serious."