UK police apologise for wrongfully convicting a man executed 70 years ago

Seventy years after he was hanged in a British prison, the family of a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder has received a police apology for the "awful anguish" the miscarriage of justice caused.

In September 1952, at the age of 28, Mahmood Mattan—a British Somali father of three—was hung after being found guilty of killing Lily Volpert in her Cardiff clothing business. To the very end, he insisted on his innocence.

However, his conviction was the first one from the Criminal Case Review Commission to be overturned in the court of appeals in 1998 as a result of his family's tenacious advocacy.

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Jeremy Vaughan, chief constable of SouthWalespolice, said: “This is a case very much of its time – racism, bias and prejudice would have been prevalent throughout society, including the criminal justice system.

“There is no doubt that Mahmood Mattan was the victim of a miscarriage of justice as a result of a flawed prosecution, of which policing was clearly a part.”

Detectives from Cardiff City Police, which is now a division of South Wales Police, looked into the March 1952 slaying of Volpert, age 41, whose throat had been sliced at the store near the docks, as per the Guardian.

The investigation "pre-dates the formation of South Wales police," according to Vaughan, but he continued,"It is right and proper that an apology be made on behalf of policing for what went so badly wrong in this case 70 years ago and for the terrible suffering of Mr Mattan's family and all those affected by this tragedy for many years."

“Even to this day, we are still working hard to ensure that racism and prejudice are eradicated from society and policing.”

Laura, Mattan's wife, and their three kids David, Omar, and Mervyn, also known as Eddie, fought for his exoneration for 46 years, but they have all since passed away.

The apology was "far too late for the persons directly affected as they are no longer with us and still, we are yet to hear the words I am/we am sorry," Tanya Mattan, a granddaughter of Mattan, told the BBC.

Within hours of Volpert's murder, Mattan, a former seaman who was originally from Hargeisa in what was then known as British Somaliland, was detained.

An all-white jury found him guilty after a three-day trial in Swansea on the charges.

This was true even though Mattan had a witness-supported alibi and there was no forensic proof.

Mattan had a limited command of English, and during the trial, his own defence attorney referred to him as a "semi-civilized primitive."

The Mattan family received compensation from the Home Office in 2001, but the police had not yet issued an apology.

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