Simon Hall

“I’m Innocent”

All credits: True Crime Blog UK
Originally published 21st February 2007
Any news updates on this case will be listed at the foot of this item

In the early hours of 16th December 2001, a killer made his way to the sleepy Suffolk village of Capel St Mary. After climbing over the fences of two houses, he approached the home of Joan Albert, 79, smashed a hole in a kitchen window measuring 14 inches at its widest point, and quietly slipped inside.

After stabbing Joan to death, he mutilated her body. He then left via the same broken window. As far as is known, he had stolen nothing.

On the night of the murder, 25-year-old barman Simon Hall (pictured) went out socializing with friends in Ipswich and, according to the website set up by his family, (see below) little did he know that he would be caught up in an extraordinary chain of events occurring a few miles away, leading him to be incarcerated for a murder he didn’t commit.

Convicted of Joan Albert’s murder in 2003, Simon has been in jail since 2002. He has always protested his innocence. In a statement on his website dated March 2005 he writes: “If you were one of the 11 in the jury who convicted me and sent me to prison… You’re a bloody idiot! “I’m entitled to say that and probably a lot more besides, but I won’t because it’s too late after all and nothing can be done immediately to change the fact. I’ve always been a very passive person and I remain so, even now after nearly three years of prison. I wonder if other people would feel this way.”

If half of what is alleged on the Justice4Simon website is true, it’s almost beyond belief that a conviction was ever made.

According to the site, Simon had no motive, the meagre forensic evidence does not conclusively link him to the crime, misconduct by police and pathologists led to a series of mistakes, and Simon was with other people apart from one time period: 5:30am to 6:15am – a “window of opportunity” seized upon by the prosecution.

In her summing up, the judge conceded there was no direct evidence that Simon had murdered Joan Albert. At the same time, she also suggested that a crashing noise heard by neighbours had been caused by a “clumsy cat”.

The neighbours had heard the sound at around 2am – a time when Simon was out socializing in Ipswich with many witnesses to the fact. Isn’t it possible the crashing sound was the sound of Mrs Albert’s kitchen window being broken, thereby eliminating Simon as a suspect?

One of the factors working against Simon here was that, due to the pathologist failing to carry out certain tests at the crime scene, a reliable time of death was never established. But an analysis of Joan Albert’s stomach content allegedly kept from the defence showed that if, as was usual, Joan ate a snack at around midnight, she must have been killed between 2am and 3am – not the 5:30am to 6:15am relied upon by the prosecution.

At the end of 2005, Steven Puaca’s appeal court gave a damning analysis of evidence given by a Dr Michael Heath – the same pathologist who gave evidence at Simon’s trial. Dr Heath has since resigned, and there’s hope that Simon’s case will be reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

There seems to be a great deal of concern over the handling of this case, and a groundswell of support for Simon, despite the fact he keeps being refused leave to appeal against his conviction. His cause has won some high-profile supporters, including several MPs, Innocent and Private Eye. Check out the Justice4Simon website and see what you think. There’s an online petition – currently with over 1,300 signatures – for those backing Simon’s appeal.

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