WELLINGTON: A New Zealand man who spent about 18 years in jail for a crime he never committed, will receive a multimillion-dollar compensation package, the government announced on Friday.
Alan Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1986 after a man was fatally stabbed during a home invasion in Auckland.
There was no forensic evidence linking Alan Hall to the scene, and the assailant was said to be of a different ethnicity and height. But the unlucky Hall was found guilty nonetheless, according to foreign media.
He was released on parole in 1994 only to be sent back to prison in 2012 for violating the conditions of his release. He was finally freed in 2022 and acquitted.
New Zealand’s supreme court admits initial trail was unjust
New Zealand’s apex court admitted the initial trial had been unjust, reflecting either extreme incompetence or a wrongful and deliberate strategy to secure a conviction.
The court also said that Hall had an intellectual disability, and despite this was subjected to twenty hours of interrogation without his legal counsel present.
Deborah Russell, Justice Minister, said on Friday that Hall had accepted an offer of 3 million US dollars compensation.
He said that the government apologises for Hall’s wrongful convictions and imprisonment.
The minister added that he acknowledges that the compensation and apology can never completely remedy the injustice Alan Hall has suffered.
Hall’s family said in a statement that they were relieved the struggle to clear his name was over. Hall was twenty-four when he was arrested. He is now sixty-one.
