Stephen Downing

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Stephen Downing (born 1957) is an English man who was convicted of murdering Wendy Sewell in Bakewell, Derbyshire in 1973. His conviction was declared unsafe by a Court of Appeal in 2001 and he was released following a long campaign fought by his family and local newspaper editor Don Hale, who was made an Officer of the British Empire.

Stephen Downing was a 17 year old with the mental capacity of an 11 year old, when he was tried and found guilty of the murder of Wendy Sewell. He served 27 years in jail. A long campaign by Downing's family and Don Hale, the then editor of the Matlock Mercury led to the conviction being declared unsafe by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2001 and Downing was released. Derbyshire police carried out a further investigation, but after failing to link any other suspects with the murder nor to eliminate Downing, they declared the case closed.

The case, and Don Hale's campaign, was featured in the 2004 BBC drama In Denial of Murder in which Stephen Tompkinson played Don Hale and Caroline Catz played Wendy Sewell. [1]