New evidence in the case of a man who has spent 23 years in prison for murder suggests he was framed by police, BBC Panorama has found.
Police knew the testimony of the main prosecution witness in the trial of Omar Benguit for the murder of South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin was directly contradicted by CCTV evidence, we have learned.
A total of 13 other witnesses used to support the prosecution case have now told the BBC the police pressured them to embellish their statements or lie in court.
Dorset Police did not directly address the suggestion that officers had framed Benguit, but said its investigation was “thorough, detailed and very complex”.
Jong-Ok Shin – known as Oki – was stabbed to death while she was walking home from a Bournemouth nightclub in 2002. Benguit, an addict with a history of drug and knife crime, was convicted at a third trial in 2005, after two previous juries failed to reach verdicts.
The BBC has investigated this case over nine years, previously reporting that some witnesses had said they gave false evidence after being pressured by police. But Panorama’s latest investigation reveals:
Phone records suggest Benguit had an alibi that discredited the evidence of the main witness and the police buried it
Police built their case around the testimony of a proven liar, even though they knew CCTV footage contradicted her story
The evidence of all the key prosecution witnesses has now been undermined or discredited
Witness testimony was crucial to the prosecution as there was no CCTV or forensic evidence linking Benguit to the crime.
After reviewing Panorama’s evidence, retired murder squad detective Brian Murphy called for the Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate Dorset Police’s handling of the case.
The former detective chief inspector, who has been involved in more than 200 murder investigations, said in his view Benguit’s conviction was not safe. “This cries out for a review without a doubt,” he said.
Des Jenson, Benguit’s barrister, said that if police had coerced witnesses to lie, “it means that they have manufactured evidence, they’ve perverted the course of justice”.
