Clive Freeman: Does he have to die to be free?

The criminal justice system is set to get away with incarcerating yet another innocent man. Are we going to stand by and let it happen?

On Wednesday the 26^th July I found myself about an hours’ drive from Bath in a cluttered solicitors office with an old prisoner called Clive Freeman. Imprisoned since the age of 44, it was his 6^th day out of jail in 36 years and what a way to spend it.

I had not planned to be there. The dogged persistence of one of his advocacy team, my curiosity, and opportunity conspired to make it happen with a cancellation in my diary that morning. I hopped in the car and off I drove to Weston-super-Mare to hear how an innocent man with the very description of a human being spelled out in his name had been incarcerated for over 36 years.

We are all born living and free. Without the “C”, Clive’s name literally says “live free man”. It’s this sort of indisputable irony that has me pondering simulation theories and the possibility that our reality is some kind of cosmic game.

Clive Freeman has insisted on his innocence throughout his incarceration and will not take a guilty plea. The fundamental issue with Clive’s case highlighted by Clive’s legal team is that there was no case for murder in the first place.

Will Dr Shepherd ever admit he is wrong?

A junior forensic pathologist at the time, Dr Richard Shepherd, who since claims to see murder where no one else does drew the conclusion of murder after re-doing the post-mortem examination on the alleged victim three times. Evidence to the contrary, presented by the far more senior and experienced Professor Mant, who held that the dead man in question had died of alcohol and drug effects, is now supported by several international forensic experts.

You can find the compelling details about Clive Freeman’s case here.

If there was no crime, what is the living man Clive Freeman still doing in prison 36 years later?  I had a most interesting conversation with Professor Michael Naughton on Friday about this case of wrongful imprisonment.

A very extreme yet nuanced tale about the arbitrary and inhumane restrictions to one man’s freedom, revealing what’s wrong with our dysfunctional systems on so many levels, it’s well worth engaging with this man’s predicament in my humble opinion. Such gross injustice even raises the possibility that Clive may have been deliberately incarcerated 36 years ago due to the nature of his work in military operations in the former British colony of Rhodesia, and for what he may or may not know.

You can watch/listen to my conversation with Prof. Michael Naughton about Clive Freeman and the criminal justice system here:

Parallels with Andrew Malkinson’s case

It’s quite uncanny, that on the same day I met one man wrongfully imprisoned, another was released after 17 years fighting for his freedom. You can read about Andrew Malkinson’s case and hear his moving and powerful speech outside the ironically called Royal Courts of Justice here.

The parallels between these cases are mind-blowing. Clearly the system is just not geared up to deal with innocent people. Once kidnapped by the state, the innocent man is destined to be shackled forever unless prepared to admit to a crime he did not commit.

CCRC petition

If you live in the UK, please do sign Professor Naughton’s petition that is seeking to address the inadequacies of a justice system that seeks to cover up wrongful imprisonment rather than release an innocent man.

In our conversation, Prof. Naughton shared that he does not hold out much hope that he will get 10,000 signatures required to trigger an official response due to the prevailing apathy and ignorance in society these days. Let’s surprise him!

Thank you for your support!

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