The man released after spending 27 years in jail for a murder he did not commit has spent his first weekend of freedom in hospital after being hit by a taxi.
The man released after spending 27 years in jail for a murder he did not commit has spent his first weekend of freedom in hospital after being hit by a taxi.
Sean Hodgson (58) was struck by the cab on Saturday just four days after his release as he was about to
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OUT: Sean Hodgson (left) with his brother Pete after a London court quashed his murder conviction. pic/ap |
cross a busy road in London.
"He went to hospital and had a couple of stitches in his cheek and everyone was very kind to him," said his solicitor Julian Young.
Young added that the accident was just one example of how difficult it was for Hodgson to adjust to life on the outside after nearly three decades behind bars. "The speed of everything is so much faster, so he is finding it difficult... People have been very kind. They have recognised him in the street and shaken his hand."
Hodgson had his conviction for the 1979 murder of Teresa De Simone quashed last Wednesday when new DNA evidence discovered he could not have raped and strangled her. He had initially confessed to the killing, but pleaded not guilty at his 1982 trial where his defence said he was a pathological liar, but the jury found him guilty.
Declaring himself 'ecstatic' after being set free, Hodgson headed straight for a pub with his brother Peter and the u00a346 (Rs 3,423) prison discharge grant he had. But in a moment reminiscent of Rip Van Winkle the story of a man who falls asleep for 20 years and wakes to find the world changed Hodgson had to be stopped from lighting a cigarette, unaware of the smoking ban introduced in British pubs two years ago.
Hodgson is now living at a hotel and his legal team is starting the process of gaining compensation for the years he wrongly spent behind bars. The police have reopened the murder inquiry.
