Free Jason Moore campaign hands petition into 10 Downing Street

Free Jason Moore protesters chanted and waved placards in Whitehall on Monday (September 2), while representatives were allowed past security to hand in a petition calling for Jason's conviction to be quashed. 

Jason, from Canary Wharf, was charged in 2012 with stabbing Robert Darby to death outside the Valentine pub in Ilford. 

The charge came after a single eyewitness picked Jason out of a line-up seven years after the killing - even though the same witness's description of the killer years earlier did not match Jason.

He had told police in 2005 that the killer was a 5'10" man with a shaved head. But in 2013 he picked 6'4" Jason from a photo line-up.

A crowd of protesters chanted 'Free Jason Moore' as Sandra Dumont emerged from Downing Street after handing in the petition (Image: Kirstie Moore)

No forensic evidence linked Jason, who had thick, long hair at the time of the killing, to the crime. 

The eyewitness has since admitted to this newspaper that he was "drunk" when he witnessed the stabbing and is not sure he picked out the right man. 

Even Robert's family believe Jason is innocent and regularly attend Free Jason Moore events. 

More than 2,400 people have signed a petition calling for Jason's conviction to be quashed. High-profile supporters include cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, sports commentator Alan Brazil and bestselling authors Linda Calvey, Kimberley Chambers and Syd Moore.

Jason Moore's best friend Joe McGuigan said his friends found it 'astonishing' that Jason remained convicted, in light of what has happened since the jury found him guilty (Image: Charles Thomson)

“All my friends are flabbergasted that this hasn’t all been resolved already,” said Jason’s best friend Joe McGuigan at Monday's protest rally.

“They are absolutely astonished. Especially since even the victim’s family are behind the campaign. People find it mind-boggling. They can’t believe what’s happening.”

In December 2023, Robert's older brother Tim, from Havering, attended 10 Downing Street to hand in the petition alongside Jason's sister Kirstie and the Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell, who has backed the campaign ever since being jointly approached by both families.

But months later, Rishi Sunak called a general election and the Conservatives were booted out of power. 

So campaigners returned to Downing Street on Monday to hand the petition in again, this time for the attention of new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Bobby Cummines OBE, Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell, Sandra Dumont, Kirstie Moore and Terry Ellis, from the Free Jason Moore campaign, outside 10 Downing Street (Image: Charles Thomson)

Mr Starmer was director of public prosecutions when the decision was taken to charge Jason, but had stepped down by the time he was convicted.

Jason is serving life in prison with a minimum of 18 years.

The petition was handed in again on Monday by Kirstie Moore, Jason's girlfriend Sandra Dumont, Bishop Grenfell, and supporters Terry Ellis and Bobby Cummines OBE.

Bobby was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 for services to reformed offenders.

Bobby Cummines OBE gives a speech in Whitehall, outside the gates to Downing Street, saying Jason Moore's ongoing imprisonment brought shame on everybody who was allowing it to continue (Image: Charles Thomson)

“Jason Moore is an innocent man, and shame on all of us for letting this carry on and carry on,” he declared outside the Downing Street gates, through a loud speaker.

“This is happening too often. Enough is enough. It must stop now. Free Jason Moore now.”

The march on Downing Street came weeks after Bishop Grenfell became the lead story on BBC London News by writing an open letter to new Labour justice secretary Shabana Mahmood.

The bishop called for an urgent review of Jason's case, which she said raised questions about the "competence and integrity" of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). 

The CCRC - the only body with the power to send Jason back to the Court of Appeal - previously refused to reinvestigate his case or re-interview the eyewitness who identified him as the stabber.

When this newspaper did it instead, he blurted out his exculpatory statements. 

Bobby Cummines OBE, Kirstie Moore, Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell, and Sandra Dumont walk towards 10 Downing Street (Image: Charles Thomson)

In her open letter, Bishop Grenfell told the new justice secretary that Jason's case bore striking similarities with that of Andrew Malkinson.

Mr Malkinson was convicted of rape based on eyewitness testimony which was unsupported by any forensic evidence. 

He served 17 years, only to later be exonerated by DNA.

A subsequent review found the CCRC had twice failed to refer his case back to the Court of Appeal, even though the exonerating DNA was available.

The CCRC's failures cost Mr Malkinson up to ten extra years in prison for a crime he had not committed.

Two Step Films, which made the acclaimed BBC documentary The Wrong Man: 17 Years Behind Bars about Andrew Malkinson, was in Whitehall on Monday, September 2, shooting for a proposed new film about Jason Moore's case (Image: Charles Thomson)

Mrs Mahmood's office said any response to Bishop Grenfell's letter would be sent to her directly and there would be no public statement.

Two Step Films - the production company behind the acclaimed BBC documentary on Mr Malkinson, The Wrong Man: 17 Years Behind Bars - was at Downing Street on Monday, shooting for a proposed new documentary about the Jason Moore case. 

The CCRC is currently reconsidering Jason's case in light of this newspaper's interview with the eyewitness, but says it cannot comment on live applications.