Michael Weir (murderer)

Michael Weir (born 1966) is a British double murderer and serial burglar who was the first person in English legal history to have been convicted of the same crime twice.[1][2] In 1999, he was jailed for the murder of 78-year-old war veteran Leonard Harris. Weir's conviction was quashed a year later at the Court of Appeal on a technicality, only for him to be re-convicted in 2019 in a 'double jeopardy' case after new evidence was found.[2] Weir was also convicted in 2019 of the murder of 83-year-old Rose Seferian, who was also killed during a burglary five weeks after Harris, which made additional history as the first time a second murder charge was added to a double jeopardy case.[3] Upon Weir's conviction at the Old Bailey in December 2019, judge Justice McGowan told the jury that they had made "legal history".[2]

Michael Weir
Born1966 (age 56–57)
Hackney, London, England
OccupationSerial burglar
Conviction(s)Murder (×2), multiple counts of burglary
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment (30-year minimum term)

Crimes and trials

Michael Weir was a serial burglar from Hackney in east London.[2][3] On 28 January 1998, Weir broke into the flat of Leonard and Gertrude Harris, stole a gold watch and ring, killed Leonard Harris and injured Gertrude Harris.[4] Three days after the attack police found a palm print on the bedroom door, but missed a match with Weir at the time as the comparative sample was of poor quality.[5] Five weeks later, on 5 March, Weir broke into the home of 83-year-old Rose Seferian, stole jewellery and cash, and attacked and killed Seferian.[2]

The police did not initially connect the two crimes.[3] Weir was tried at the Old Bailey in 1999 for Harris's murder and found guilty, but in 2000 the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction on a technicality and he was freed.[2] His conviction had been based upon DNA which police had erroneously kept on the police database, and the Court of Appeal decided that the trial judge had been wrong to admit this as evidence.[4] The Crown Prosecution Service missed the deadline to appeal the decision to the House of Lords.[4] The Lords later found that in Weir's case the original decision to admit the DNA evidence had been correct, but a retrial was not possible until 2005 when the double jeopardy law was changed in England and Wales to allow those acquitted of crimes to be re-tried if new and compelling evidence was found.[4][2]

In 2019 Weir was re-tried for Harris's murder after the palm print found at the scene at the time was finally matched to him and because new forensic techniques not available in 1998 revealed that his DNA was at the scene.[2][4] He was also charged with the murder of Seferian after palm prints found on the window he broke in through were matched to him.[4] Weir had no explanation for the forensic evidence and was convicted of Harris's murder again at the Old Bailey in December 2019, as well as for the murder of Seferian.[4] Harris's daughter-in-law expressed her anger at Weir's original conviction having been quashed, saying: "The defendant has been allowed to get on with his life for 21 years".[4] Judge Justice McGowan told the jury that they had made "legal history" for convicting a defendant a second time of the same crime.[4] Weir was sentenced to life imprisonment, and will not be eligible for release until he has served at least thirty years.[6]

See also

References
  1. While some defendants, such as Russell Causley, had been convicted of the same crime twice, Weir's case was the first in which a person had been re-convicted after having their conviction quashed without a retrial being ordered.
  2. "Prolific thief Michael Weir jailed for 1998 'double jeopardy' murders". BBC News. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  3. "Michael Weir guilty of 1998 'double jeopardy' murders". BBC News. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  4. "Double jeopardy murderer Michael Weir is jailed for life". The Guardian. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  5. "Double jeopardy killer Michael Weir jailed for murdering two pensioners in legal first". Sky News. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  6. Newing, Holly (19 December 2019). "Michael Weir: 'the first convicted man to be convicted twice' under double jeopardy law". The Justice Gap.
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