Skip to main content

Man Executed 70 Years Ago-Police Apologise For His Wrongful Conviction


Mahmood Mattan, a 28 years old British Somali, a former merchant seaman and a father of three, was wrongfully convicted and hanged in September 1952.

Mahmood Mattan was found guilty of killing Lily Volpert in her Cardiff clothes store. He protested his innocence to the end.

Mattan, a former seaman who was originally from Hargeisa in what was then known as British Somaliland, was arrested within hours of Volpert’s murder.

He was charged and convicted by an all-white jury in a three-day trial in Swansea.

This was despite there being no forensic evidence and Mattan having his alibi backed up by witnesses.

However, in 1998 after tireless campaigning by his family, his conviction was the first Criminal Case Review Commission referral to be quashed at the court of appeal.

Mahmood Mattan's family has been given a police apology for the “terrible suffering” the miscarriage of justice caused, 70 years after he was executed in a British prison after his erroneous conviction of murder.

Jeremy Vaughan, chief constable of South Wales police, 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, now part of South Wales police, investigated the killing of Volpert, 41, whose throat had been slit at the shop in the docks area in March 1952.

Vaughan said that while the investigation “pre-dates the formation of South Wales police”, he added: “It is right and proper that an apology is 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.”
Mattan’s wife, Laura, and their three sons David, Omar and Mervyn, also known as Eddie, campaigned for 46 years for his name to be cleared but have all since died.

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

In 2001 the Mattan family received compensation from the Home Office but had not received an apology from the police until now.




Comments

  1. 70 yrs after if this was in Africa d case file will be no where to be found

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Wins Big In Governor Nyesom Wike's Local Government Area

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has won the Obio-Akpor, the Local Government Area of Governor Nyesom Wike in Rivers State by a landslide. Tinubu polled 80,239 votes to defeat the Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who came a distant second with 3,829 and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who got 368 votes.

Professor Isah Odidi, 16 Others Appointed As Directors By The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council

  Professor Isa Odidi and His Excellency the Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar. The Peoples Democratic Party Appoints Directors And Deputy Directors To Kick-Start Campaign.                                 Professor Isah Odidi, has been appointed as Director, Diaspora Group by the Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This appointment was contain in a Press Release on Thursday, October 06, 2022 issued by the Campaign Organisation’s Director-General and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal. Professor Isah Odidi, a distinguished pharmacist, an erudite scientist,  a technocrat and tireless researcher will indeed propagate the good virtues of the great party, the PDP and its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the Diaspora.  Professor Odidi, has always asserted that Atiku  Abubakar is a unifier and the best candidate to move the Nigerian nation forward, ushe...

Boris Johnson - Apologizes For Partying At Lockdown

The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson apologizes for attending Downing Street party during lockdown. London(CNN)Boris Johnson has apologized for attending an event in the back garden of 10 Downing Street on May 20, 2020, at which point Britons were prohibited from gathering due to strict coronavirus restrictions. At the start of the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson said he did attend the gathering for 25 minutes before going inside to work. He said he believed the gathering to be a work event, but with hindsight conceded he should have sent attendees back inside. Leader of the opposition Keir Starmer said the UK Prime Minister's excuse that he "did not realize he was at a party" was "ridiculous" and "offensive." The Labour Party leader went on to ask if the Prime Minister would resign. "After months of deceit and deception, the pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road," Starmer said. The Prime ...