R v Lee Michael Calvert

When fresh evidence purports to retract a prison confession, the appellate court must examine rigorously both the provenance of the retraction and the cogency of its contents. The court should assess how the retraction was obtained, including the investigator’s methods and any influence from persons seeking to overturn the conviction. A signed statement is not necessarily reliable evidence of a retraction where the witness denies its substance, may not have read it, and the record contains material discrepancies. The fresh evidence must be admitted only where required in the interests of justice and must demonstrate that the conviction is unsafe. Serious defects in the retraction evidence do not automatically retrospectively destroy the credibility of the original trial evidence, particularly where that evidence had been fully tested and retains independent corroboration.

The appellant had been convicted of murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. His conviction appeal was dismissed in R v Calvert & Others [2016] EWCA Crim 890. Following a reference by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under the fresh-evidence jurisdiction, he relied on statements apparently signed by Raymond Cowan, a critical prosecution witness, in which Cowan purported to admit that he had lied about a cell confession and had been threatened into giving evidence.

The statements had been obtained by a private investigator instructed and directed by the appellant’s family. Cowan later denied making the alleged retraction, although he accepted his signatures. The central questions were whether the retraction evidence should be admitted and whether it undermined the safety of the conviction.

1. Appeal dismissed. The fresh evidence was not admitted because admission was not required in the interests of justice, and the safety of the conviction was not undermined.
2. A purported retraction of a prison confession requires rigorous examination of both its provenance and the cogency of its contents. That caution applies equally when an appellate court assesses the apparent retraction of evidence which had been relied upon at trial: see Maharaj v Trinidad and Tobago [2021] UKPC 27.
3. The court therefore examined not only the signed statements but also the circumstances in which they came into existence. The private investigator was honest, but his lack of independence, his failure to investigate the family’s sources of information, and his preparation and revision of the statements materially weakened their reliability. The contemporaneous notes differed significantly from the signed account, including on who supplied the telephone number recorded in the prison diary.
4. The court accepted that Cowan signed the statement without reading it, believing that it recorded their discussions. He unequivocally disowned its substance in evidence. The statement was therefore given no weight as a retraction. Cowan’s later conversations were more equivocal and did not advance the matter.
5. The court identified consistency between Cowan’s accounts to the police, his trial evidence, the contemporaneous note and his later remarks about the appellant’s boasting in prison. His dishonesty and inconsistency, including misinformation about his sister, did not retrospectively impugn his trial evidence: see R v Flower [1966] 1 QB 146. The prison diary entry remained corroboration of an important part of his account, and the defence position was not supported by evidence from the appellant.
6. The conviction consequently remained safe. The appeal against conviction was dismissed.

1. Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): The earlier conviction appeal was dismissed in [2016] EWCA Crim 890. On the later Criminal Cases Review Commission reference based on fresh evidence, the appeal against conviction was dismissed.
2. Crown Court at Bradford: The appellant was convicted of murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years, later reduced to 32 years on appeal.