DNA technology is a true crime against a popular literary genre

WHEN you’ve believed something passionately for a long, long time, it’s incredibly difficult to relinquish that belief, writes Terry Prone.

On my bookshelves, in the extensive true crime section, sits a series of battered paperbacks, some of them published 50 years ago, examining high profile crimes, the conviction of those who committed them, and, in some cases, the questions raised about the validity of those convictions.

The most famous murder case from post-war Britain relates to 10 Rillington Place, where Timothy Evans, who was innocent, was hanged for some of the eight murders committed by John Reginald Halliday Christie, who lived in the same house. It took many years before those who had believed Timothy Evans was guilty relinquished that belief.