A TIPPERARY man who was at the centre of one of Britain's longest-running miscarriage of justice cases has died at a hospital in London.
Frank Johnson spent 26 years in prison for the murder of news-agent John Sheridan in 1975, a crime of which he always maintained his innocence, until he was released by Britain's Court of Appeal in June 2002.
Mr Johnson (72), who lived in Walthamstow, northeast London, died last Friday night. It is understood he had been suffering from a stomach illness. His funeral service will take place in London on Friday, November 7th.
Mr Johnson, originally from St Oliver Plunkett Terrace, Clonmel, was convicted in September 1976 - along with his co-accused David Smart and Jack Tierney - of the murder of his friend and employer John Sheridan, at Whitechapel, East London, in February 1975.
A man had entered the shop and doused Mr Sheridan in petrol before setting him alight. Before he died in hospital some weeks later, Mr Sheridan made a statement to police exonerating Mr Johnson, who was initially praised by the police for putting out the flames. But that statement didn't surface for over 20 years.
Following the release of the Birmingham Six from prison in 1991, Mr Johnson's case received a much higher profile when his cause was championed by Billy Power, among others.
He was represented by the leading human rights solicitor, Gareth Peirce, and was visited in 1994 at Swaleside prison in Eastchurch, Kent, by the then mayor of Clonmel, Cllr Seamus Healy.
The case was referred to the Court of Appeal in London six years ago. Allowing the appeal, Lord Justice Longmore said it was impossible for the appeal judges to say the conviction was safe, and it would have to be quashed.
Findings should have been made that Mr Johnson was suffering from a mental illness at the time of his trial, the judge said.
The ruling was criticised by Mr Johnson and supporters, angry that there had been no examination of case details, and claiming the authorities held evidence which, had it been presented to the court at the time of his trial, would have secured his release.
Mr Johnson would have been eligible for parole and released from prison years earlier if he had stated he was guilty.