Conviction: Murder at the Station TV - Inside Justice online -
28 October 2008: 11 days after she disappeared Paula Poolton’s body was discovered in the boot of her car. She’d been stabbed seven times. Her body left in her car along this road. Conviction: Murder at the Station I, BBC 2016
Louise Shorter runs Inside Justice. A charity dedicated to investigating possible miscarriages of justice. With limited funds, they are selective about who they choose to help. ibid.
Louis [daughter] is saying in this case there is no forensic evidence linking her dad to the crime. ibid.
Before launching a new investigation, the Inside Justice advisory panel reviews the evidence from the original trial. ibid.
The panel consists of forensic experts, criminal lawyers and former police detectives. ibid.
‘There’s a very narrow short window of opportunity and there are people and cars passing pretty much constantly. This is really really pushing the boundaries on what is actually possible here.’ ibid.
She was missing for eleven days yet no text from him asking where she was ... He kept referring to her in the past tense, and this is at the time just before her body is found. Conviction: Murder at the Station II
No-one saw her being attacked here; no-one heard her scream. ibid.
Criminal Case Review Commission: receives about 1,500 cases per year; we refer approximately 33 cases for a new appeal. ibid.
Roger was convicted of murdering his lover Paula Poolton after her body was found in the boot of her car in 2010. The prosecution described a high level of interaction between victim and attacker yet no forensic evidence was found to incriminate Roger.
In 2016 the Advisory Panel of Inside Justice, investigating Roger’s case, was filmed by the BBC. The resulting two-part documentary Conviction: Murder at the Station can be viewed here and here.
Today, cutting edge forensic techniques could be used to identify the killer in this case but Hampshire Constabulary has lost, destroyed and contaminated key exhibits contrary to statutory guidance. Doing so has denied Roger Kearney the chance to prove his innocence.
CCTV footage, which still exists, could be subjected to new analysis which could form the basis of a new appeal but Hampshire Constabulary has repeatedly refused Inside Justice access to this material. Inside Justice online article