A man accused of a brutal rape in Little Hulton, for which the wrong man was jailed for 17 years, made numerous internet searches about the case, a court heard.
Paul Quinn, 51, is alleged to be the real attacker of a woman in her 30s, who was beaten, strangled and twice raped on July 19, 2003 in Little Hulton, Salford.
But a year later, another man – Andrew Malkinson, 60 – was tried and jailed for the attack, becoming the victim of a “most terrible miscarriage of justice”, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Mr Malkinson, a shopping centre security guard, was wrongly picked out at a digital identity parade and spent 17 years behind bars.
In the meantime, as Mr Malkinson’s long campaign to clear his name gathered pace and publicity, the defendant made internet searches about the case, John Price KC, prosecuting, told jurors on the second day of Quinn’s trial.
Jurors were told analysis of Quinn’s internet usage showed he had little interest in news items, except Mr Malkinson’s long campaign for release.
Jurors heard Mr Malkinson first appealed against his conviction in 2006, but this was dismissed.
He then made two more attempts, in 2009 and 2018, to ask the Criminal Cases Review Commission to send his case to the Court of Appeal, but both times was rejected.
His final attempt in 2021 led to his appeal against his conviction being allowed by the Court of Appeal.
The defendant, who lived locally to the attack at the time before moving to Exeter, was only linked to the crime years later after scientific advances matched his DNA profile from samples left on the victim.
And in July 2022, news broke that police had linked an unknown suspect through DNA.
Analysis showed a “profound” effect on Quinn’s internet browsing, with 89 direct news outlet web searches in September 2022, 69 in October 2022 and 49 in November 2022.
And Quinn, by now living in Devon, searched the website of the Manchester Evening News 249 times between August and December of 2022.
Mr Price also told jurors the defendant had provided a DNA specimen to be kept on the national database in 2012.
And after news headlines about the new DNA link, Quinn began researching the subject, it was alleged.
Mr Price told jurors in August 2022 he searched Google for “how long is dna kept in database”, and “why do i keep sweating all the time…”
Other searches included “Can you refuse to give a DNA sample to the police UK…… Is my DNA in a database UK”.
Mr Price continued: “Why? Why do you see this defendant researching that and asking questions, ‘How long DNA can be kept by the authorities?’”
After Quinn was arrested in December 2022, he was asked to explain to detectives how his DNA came to be on the victim and her clothing.
The defendant told police at the time his lifestyle, between 1992 and 2010, was to go out partying with friends every weekend, taking drugs and he would be highly promiscuous, having sex with two or three women a night, each weekend.
If true, jurors were told, this would mean that in those years, he will have had casual sex with about 2,700 local women.
Mr Price said Quinn was trying to imply his DNA could be linked to the rape simply because the victim had been one of the many women he had sex with.
Quinn has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm and attempting to choke or strangle his victim to render her unconscious while he carried out the attack.
The trial continues.
By Pat Hurst, Press Associaion
