A family's fight for their son's freedom
All the latest developments and news from Mark’s campaign and life in prison, as we follow his journey from accusation to exoneration. Follow @PatientCaptive on Twitter for regular updates.
Reading Time: 8 minutes After almost 8 years of patiently requesting permission from the Ministry of Justice to speak with an investigative journalist about his wrongful conviction, former King’s College London law student Mark Alexander has today won his legal challenge against the government’s restrictive policy on prisoners’ access to the media. Multiple journalists...
Reading Time: 11 minutes For the past few years, the hope of spending the end of his 16-year sentence in an ‘open’ prison where he could spend more time with his family, travel to university during the week to conduct research for his PhD, and begin making plans for his future beyond prison, has...
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice Dominic Raab has confirmed to us that he has asked the Law Commission “to consider including a review” of the threshold test for overturning convictions in the Criminal Appeals Court, in line with recommendations made by the Westminister Commission on Miscarriages...
Reading Time: 8 minutes The Ministry of Justice has denied an investigative journalist access to interview Mark Alexander while he is in prison, effectively preventing further investigation being conducted in to his case to establish his innocence. Mark has always maintained that he was wrongly convicted of murder in 2010. This is now the...
Reading Time: 12 minutes Born in 1939, Samuel grew up in Egypt while it was still a British protectorate. His family worked in medicine and pharmaceuticals, but faced real poverty. After moving from Alexandria to Cairo, they lived in an apartment block without electricity or running water. As part of the minority Christian group...
Reading Time: 10 minutes Mark organised a small fundraising event for Emmaus UK some years ago, whilst in prison. Terry Waite CBE, President of the charity, invited Mark to curate an afternoon of ‘Words and Music’ with him, reflecting upon a selection of moving poems from his new book, ‘Out of the Silence‘. We’ve...
Reading Time: 4 minutes Mark and his family would like to thank everyone who supported their petition to the Lord Chancellor, Rt. Hon. David Gauke MP (below). Unfortunately, the Ministry of Justice has not granted the media access to interview Mark in prison. They have since explained that “Consideration as to whether a prisoner...
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mark’s faith has been an important source of strength for him in prison. Many have been moved by Mark’s music in Church, where he plays the piano and violin for the weekly services. Mark wrote this special prayer for the prison choir, which speaks not only to his own...
Reading Time: 6 minutes Letter to the Head of News, External Communications Dear Madame, Thank you for your letter of 31 August. I appreciate you giving our request some consideration. I must say, I was extremely surprised by the Ministry’s response given the length of time invested by all parties in this matter and...
Reading Time: 6 minutes In 2015, the CCRC opted not to refer our first application to the Court of Appeal In spite of the new evidence we presented to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), it has decided not to refer my case to the Court of Appeal. This is because the CCRC do...
Reading Time: < 1 minute This was the CCRC’s formal response to Mark’s complaint, following their decision not to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. You can read Mark’s reaction here.
Reading Time: 4 minutes Mark studied for his Diploma in Music Performance (DipABRSM) whilst in prison, achieving a Merit. He was the first person to have ever attempted an exam at this level in prison. On a sunny afternoon in July, two examiners from the Royal Schools of Music traveled up to Leicester to...
Reading Time: 2 minutes After a year of study, Mark sat his grade 8 piano exam in prison, passing with Merit. Two diplomas and two degrees later, Mark is still looking for ways to stretch himself, and defy the apparent limitations of his circumstances. His latest project is developing a PhD research proposal. When...
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is an executive summary (not the full report) of the original 34-page Serious Case Review (SCR) commissioned by the police in March 2010, and conducted by Buckinghamshire County Council (pdf below). Three of the police officers involved in Mark’s case sat on this Serious Case Review, which met 5...
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