Five years
ago, David Luxford was branded a paedophile and sentenced to seven
years in prison for the alleged rape of an underage girl. But his
wife, Greer, was determined to prove his
innocence.
She raised nearly
£100,000 to hire a private detective to prove his innocence, and as
a result in November 2003 David was freed.
David, now 38, lives with
his wife Greer, 51, and their 14-year-old daughter, Sara, in
Farnborough, Kent.
My
bed felt hard and unfamiliar as I woke from a broken sleep. I
felt exhausted, my eyes sore from weeping. For a moment I could not
think where I was or why I felt so awful. Then it all came back to me, the events of the
previous day flashing through my head like scenes from a horror
film.
Yesterday I was an innocent man, a law-abiding citizen
who had always believed in British justice. Today I was in Belmarsh
Prison, branded as a convicted rapist and paedophile. It could not be true, I told myself. Any moment now I
would wake up in my own bed at home, my wife Greer beside me, our
nine-year old daughter Sara asleep in the next room.
But as I looked around at the dingy cell
walls I realised the nightmare was real. Not only had I been wrongly
convicted of rape, but I was now facing the possibility of ten years
in prison.
There had been no real
evidence against me - the rape I was accused of was said to have
taken place 13 years previously. There
was only the unreliable word of a 26-year-old woman, a former friend
of the family I barely knew. But it had
been enough to deprive me of my freedom, cut me off from my family
and destroy my good name.
In May,
2001, I won my appeal for a retrial. After five months being allowed
out on bail, back with my family, my case went back to court in
November. But I was found guilty yet again, and sent back to
Belmarsh.
This time I was
convinced I would have to serve out the remainder of my sentence. If
I had been desperate before, I now felt suicidal.
Following a warning from a fellow prisoner that
the others had discovered my supposed crime, I had to be transferred
to the VP unit, finding myself living among paedophiles including
Jonathan King, as well as child killers, rapists and junkies. The only way I could survive was to cut off my
feelings, try not to think too much and just get on with my
jobs.
I worked in the warders' offices cleaning, in the
laundry and in the kitchen, wherever I could. Meanwhile, Greer had been put in touch with a private
legal detective called Stephen Cooper, a former military
intelligence officer. They talked for six
hours and Greer was convinced that he could help.
My parents
offered to remortgage their house for £50,000, while Greer took out
a loan for £10,000. It seemed all our
friends, neighbours and work colleagues wanted to help us. I remained sceptical at first, believing that we
would find ourselves thousands of pounds in debt and that I would
still not be released. But Greer was determined.
Over
the course of the next 18 months, I became more optimistic. Friends
helped with carboot sales, a disco and cricket matches to raise
money. With a new team of solicitors and barristers, Dominic Bell
and Anthony Scrivener, the detective agency was looking at evidence
that had not been presented at the original trial.
After
tracing two of Kimberley's former boyfriends, they began to uncover
inconsistencies in her story. One boyfriend gave evidence that she
told him she was still a virgin after the time the alleged abuse had
taken place. A second said he'd had sex with her before the alleged
abuse had begun, yet in court she had insisted she was a virgin when
the alleged abuse took place. Kimberley's story was starting to fall
apart.
The timings were wrong, too. From what Kimberley had
said, it would not have been possible for me to have raped her early
in the morning and still got to work on time. My former employers
gave statements that I had never been late. It looked at last as
though I might have a chance to prove my innocence.
On
November 3, 2003, I was back in court once more, hardly daring to
listen as the case against me slowly unravelled. Up in the public
gallery were more than 50 of my friends and family, all wearing
their yellow ribbons to show their support. Then, one the three
Appeal Court judges spoke: 'We find the previous conviction unsafe.
There will be no further retrial of this case.'
I stood
silently, still unable to take in that I was finally free to be with
my family again. I felt like crying, just as I had that first night
in prison. It had taken three years in prison and £100,000 to prove
my innocence.
After collecting my belongings, I joined Greer
outside the court. As cameras flashed, she asked what I wanted to
do. 'Just get home,' I said. After a quick drink with my legal team
and supporters, Greer, Sara and I slipped back to our own home.
Although I was overjoyed to be free, I did not feel like
celebrating the fact that I had had to put myself and my family in
such heavy debt to prove my innocence. That was almost 18 months ago
and I am still trying to repay my friends, family and colleagues. I
have a new job as an assistant surveyor and save every penny. I have
applied for compensation for wrongful imprisonment, although I have
been warned that the cost of the investigation my family mounted on
my behalf will not be taken into consideration.
I will be
happy if there is enough to repay the people I owe for their
kindness, support and loyalty. It is only thanks to them that I am
free today and proved innocent.
I still don't know to this
day why Kimberley made up this accusation against me. I feel a
mixture of hatred and pity towards her. For a while I even
considered suing her. But my lawyers advised against this, and
anyway, I decided I could not face going through any more court
appearances. I want to put what has happened behind me
now.
But I cannot forget that if I had been forced to
rely on British justice I would still be languishing in prison today
- all because of one woman's wicked lies.
Kimberley's name
has been changed for legal reasons.
.gif){kind=logo}
