Free Jason Moore
A campaign for justice
Jason Moore has spent some ten years in prison for a murder he did not commit, the murder of Robert Darby.
42-year-old Robert Darby was stabbed to death outside a public house in Gants Hill, East London, The Valentine, which has since been knocked down.
Millionaire playboy, Jason Moore admits to being parked in his car close to The Valentine but never left his car and certainly had nothing whatever to do with the killing.
Moore said at trial that Robert Darby had threatened to chop his toes off and admitted that he was in the car park of the pub when Robert Darby was killed but insisted he remained in his car the whole time.
The trial heard that Jason Moore and Robert Darby had been involved in a love triangle with a lady named Adele Rayner who had worked in a bar underneath professional gambler, Jason Moore’s apartment in Canary Wharf, London.
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems with getting this case a retrial and ultimately getting Jason Moore released is the fact that he went on the run within days of the murder in August 2005. He fled to the Costa Del Sol in Spain and on to Dubai fearing reprisals and lived under a false identity.
However, this is explained by the fact the family were given an ‘Osman Warning’ by the police, which is where officers have intelligence that there is an imminent threat to a person’s life.
Kirstie Moore, Jason’s sister says the family were warned by the police that they couldn’t guarantee Jason’s safety.
“My parents decided to sell up and leave the country, Jason did the same and so did my sister,” says Kirstie Moore.
Moore did return to England in September 2012 and handed himself in to the police in what he says was a “Bid to clear his name”, unfortunately, the trial jury didn’t see it that way and Jason was convicted of murder whilst his co-defendant, Martin Power was acquitted on all charges.
The trial judge, Nicholas Hilliard sentenced Jason to life in prison with a minimum tariff of 18 years that he must serve before he can apply to the parole board for release. Jason continues to maintain his innocence so he is unlikely to be released on parole, so ultimately appeal is probably his best chance of release.
Jason’s partner, Sandra Dumont told the Mail Online “Basically Jason did not kill Robert Darby”. “I know it, the police know it, even Darby’s family know it but Jason’s still in jail with no prospect of release.”
“After Jason got sent down we have done everything we can to prove that he didn’t do it.”
“We have spoken to lawyers, private investigators and Robert Darby’s brother Tim. We have uncovered new witnesses and evidence that all proves that Jason did not kill anyone.”
It seems that police deliberately withheld evidence for the defence which would almost certainly have exonerated Jason Moore. The late Robert Darby’s brother Tim said that he is disgusted that police completely ignored evidence and information that he passed to them. He said that Jason Moore was the police’s ‘fall guy’.
“Police were just determined to arrest and convict ‘a body’ any way they could. Jason Moore was their fall guy.”
A private investigation company, TM Eye run by two retired Metropolitan Police detectives was engaged to look into the murder of Robert Darby as his brother Tim was concerned about Jason Moore’s conviction. TM Eye spent some two years reviewing the case and determined that Jason Moore had nothing to do with the killing of Robert Darby.
Not only does all of this leave an innocent man in prison but it leaves a killer roaming the streets of East London who may well have struck again since, this is just not acceptable.
The original case seems to have been reliant upon the evidence of an eyewitness who seems to have been pretty unreliable and it has now been revealed he was drunk at the time of the killing, evidence which was never disclosed to the defence team at the time of trial.
One piece of crucial evidence that I fail to understand not being questioned was that During the trial at the Old Bailey in 2013, the jury was told that the killer was wearing a blue zip-up top, but CCTV from before and after the stabbing appears to show Moore wearing a grey or black jumper with no zip. This is quite concerning as the jury must have been influenced somehow to convict a man who appeared on CCTV wearing totally different clothes to what was claimed by the witness. In my opinion, this instantly put the credibility of the witness’s evidence into question.
I know that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) looked at the case initially and rejected it, but have in more recent times agreed to ‘look again’ but have failed to act or get the case anywhere near back to court thus far.
The CCRC has come under fire a lot in recent times for their failings as an organisation that stands against miscarriages of justice including its dreadful handling of the Andrew Malkinson case where he spent two decades in prison for rape — even though DNA evidence could have cleared his name had the CCRC got on with the job.
I really do feel for Jason and his family and I am sure Robert Darby’s family and friends would like to see the person who killed Robert where he or she belongs, behind bars. I hope Jason and his family see justice before very long. I will watch out for news from the family Facebook group and bring news as I get it.
As always if you’d like to discuss this or any other case with me please get in touch
Email:
Lolly-truecrime@protomail.com
or the main team:
Coldcaseinvestigations@proton.me
