Ontelly

Double Jeopardy

Logo for Double Jeopardy

A ground-breaking investigation into a crime where an attacker left an elderly woman for dead, and where the suspect was acquitted at the Old Bailey, despite DNA evidence. Reporter Richard Bilton looks into the new double jeopardy rule and the evidence needed to bring the case back to trial. In 2005 the 800-year-old double jeopardy rule was swept away in England. Until then anyone found not guilty, stayed not guilty. They could never be tried again for the same crime. This is no longer the case. If there's new evidence of guilt in a crime that's so serious it involves a life sentence, there can now be a retrial.