Delusions of Innocence: The Tragic Story of Stefan Kiszko

The case of Stefan Kiszko casts a dark shadow over British justice. Totally unconnected to the murder of which he was convicted - that of a young girl Lesley Molseed - he spent 16 years in prison tormented as a sex-offender and suffering from what one expert described as `delusions of innocence'. As author Michael O'Connell explains, it was in fact the system by which he was ensnared which was suffering from `delusions of guilt'. Kiszko could not have been Lesley's attacker as subsequently established by DNA and the medical fact that he could not produce sperm. But a false confession written for him by a corrupt police officer set in train proceedings from which he was never to recover, dying only a short time after his eventual release. In this book, Michael O'Connell investigates every small detail of the case with especial reference to the foibles of the lawyers, investigators and scientists involved, all of whom either missed or ignored the signs that should have pointed to an early discharge from a misguided prosecution. The book includes the participation of a prosecutor who went on to become Lord Chief Justice and a leading defence barrister who became Home Secretary before his elevation to the House of Lords. Everyone seems to have become caught up in the momentum originally fuelled by policing methods that are hopefully now long gone.