British man freed after 21 years on death row in US

A British man who spent 21 years on death row in America was freed by a US court today.

Kenny Richey pleaded no contest to attempted involuntary manslaughter at the Putnam County Common Pleas Court in Ottawa, Ohio, and is set to head back to the UK tomorrow, his lawyer said.

Richey, 43, of Edinburgh, was convicted in 1987 of an arson attack on an apartment block in an Ohio town in which a two-year-old girl died.

But in August last year the sentence was overturned and today he pleaded no contest to charges of attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangering and breaking and entering.

He was sentenced to time already served.

Clean-shaven Richey, wearing black shirt and trousers with a blue tie, appeared in court with his arms and ankles shackled for the 40-minute hearing.

He spoke in his broad Scottish accent several times, but only to confirm to Judge Alan Travis that he understood the proceedings and the terms of his plea deal.

During the hearing, Richey was sentenced to a total of 21 years – time he has already served.

The judge said Richey would be released as soon as he could be processed from Putnam County jail.

Asked if he had anything to say to the court, Richey said: “I’m fine.”

The judge told Richey that although his plea was not an admission of guilt, it would lead to him being found guilty by the court.

Richey left his mother’s home in Edinburgh aged 18 to live with his American father in Ohio.

He was put on death row in January 1987 after being convicted of starting a fire in which two-year-old Cynthia Collins died.

Prosecutors claimed he began the fire as a jealous attack on his former girlfriend and her new lover, who lived in the flat beneath.

The Scot, who has always protested his innocence, refused a plea bargain which would have led to an 11-year sentence for arson and manslaughter.

On August 10 the Cincinnati Court of Appeal overturned his sentence.

He has a history of heart problems, and his family thought his latest scare on December 20, which delayed his release, may have been because he became overwhelmed on a day he had anticipated for two decades.