Miscarriages of Justice

Max Hardy and Joanna Hardy-Susskind join Tom to examine miscarriages of criminal justice.

They’ll look at what can go wrong, and has gone wrong, with the criminal trial process, and the flaws in the systems designed to provide redress for those failings.

They’ll consider the case of Andy Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit, whether lessons from his case should lead to change, and if so what that change should be.

And James Burley, the investigator in the Malkinson case whose crucial work led to his exoneration, identifies what he believes are serious failings with the system.

This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and rape.

Max Hardy was junior Counsel in Malkinson’s appeal having worked on the case since 2020. He is a former Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee of the Bar Council and is a Trustee of the legal education charity the Kalisher Trust. He also helps the organisation Amicus train prospective interns to work on death penalty cases in America.

Joanna Hardy-Susskind is a criminal barrister at Red Lion Chambers who specialises in defending allegations of homicide and serious sexual offending. She is an experienced appellate lawyer and is described by the Legal 500 as an ‘absolute star’.

James Burley is an investigator at Appeal, a charity and law practice dedicated to fighting miscarriages of justice and demanding reform. He works on cases at the CCRC and Court of Appeal levels, as well as on evidence access challenges in the Administrative Court. It was his investigative work which ultimately led in 2023 to the exoneration of Andy Malkinson

Written and presented by Tom Cross. Produced by Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Lennon Hutton.