Raphael Rowe (born 1968) is a British broadcast journalist and presenter, who was wrongfully convicted in 1990 for the 1988 murder and series of aggravated robberies as part of the
M25 Three
The M25 Three were Raphael Rowe, Michael George Davis, and Randolph Egbert Johnson, who were jailed for life at the Old Bailey in March 1990 after being convicted for murder and burglary. The name was taken from the location of the crimes, whic ...
. After nearly twelve years incarcerated his convictions, along with those of his two co-defendants Michael J. George Davis and Randolph Egbert Johnson, were ruled unsafe in July 2000 and they were released.
Early life
Raphael George Rowe was born in
South-East London
Greater London is divided into five sub-regions for the purposes of the London Plan. The boundaries of these areas were amended in 2008 and 2011 and their role in the implementation of the London Plan has varied with each iteration.
Purpose
Sub- ...
and named after his father, who had emigrated from
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
at the age of 26. His British mother, Rosemary Prior, was 17 when she married Raphael senior. They had three daughters before Raphael junior was born in 1968. Rowe's mixed parentage was not unusual in South-East London, where many ethnicities lived next door to one another, and a low-income, working-class background was the norm.
Convictions
In the early hours of 16 December 1988, three masked men, one carrying a knife, another a gun, beat and tied up Peter Hurburgh and Alan Eley, who were having sex in a car parked in a field. During the attack, Hurburgh died of a heart attack.
Later that morning the three men committed two home robberies and stabbed one of the occupants, 40-year-old Timothy Napier.
Rowe and Davis were arrested on the morning of 19 December and Johnson on 6 January 1989.
They were dubbed the ''
M25 Three
The M25 Three were Raphael Rowe, Michael George Davis, and Randolph Egbert Johnson, who were jailed for life at the Old Bailey in March 1990 after being convicted for murder and burglary. The name was taken from the location of the crimes, whic ...
'' by the media, due to the locations of the crimes. They were interrogated for three days. The victims stated there were two white perpetrators and one black; however, all three defendants were black. Victims also described an attacker with blue eyes and fair hair, which matched none of the three accused.
Rowe’s girlfriend at the time of the attack, Kate Williamson, testified against him at trial. She later sent a letter to him in prison admitting to and apologising for lying.
In March 1990 the three were sentenced to life imprisonment without parole at the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
for murder and aggravated robbery.
Appeal and release
In 1994, Davis and Rowe made an application to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
(ECtHR). Along with
errors and other evidence withheld before the trial, it had not been disclosed to Rowe's lawyers that the key prosecution witness, Norman Duncan, was a known criminal with previous convictions, and prior to the trial had become a police informant.
On 16 February 2000, the ECtHR returned their judgment and found that there had been a violation of Article 6 (1) of the ECtHR, the right to a fair trial. In 1999 the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the M25 Three case back to the Court of Appeal and on 17 July 2000 Rowe and his co-defendants were acquitted and released.
Rowe has always maintained his innocence and has said he believes the police conspired with witnesses.
Career
During his incarceration, Rowe studied journalism through a correspondence course and after his release, joined the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
''.
was considered a significant factor in his eventual acquittal.
He became freelance in 2016 and in 2017 he was one of the celebrities who walked the
''.
. In August 2020 he released his podcast ''Second Chance''.
His memoir and autobiography, ''Notorious'', was released in December 2020.
He has attributed his success as a journalist to his conviction and incarceration for a crime he did not commit.
Rowe had been dating a woman prior to being incarcerated. He has said that they got back in contact two months after his release. They had their first child in the summer of 2004.
He stated in 2000 he has a son from a previous relationship. Rowe has said his son was reluctant to see him due to the accusations against him.
– a Welshman released on appeal in similarly high-profile and controversial circumstances
*
– another high-profile case from the 90s in which the accused were freed at the Court of Appeal in controversial circumstances
*
– another UK victim of a supposed miscarriage of justice who is also still a suspect in the crime