Killing of Maxwell Confait

Maxwell Confait, a 26-year-old man born in the Seychelles who was known locally as Michelle and worked as a sex worker, was found dead at his lodgings on Doggett Road in Catford, south-east London, in the early hours of 22 April 1972. He had been strangled, and a fire had been set at the property; the fire brigade was called at about 1:21 a.m. His death was recorded as asphyxia.

Two days later, on 24 April 1972, a series of small fires in the surrounding area led police to detain three local youths: Colin Lattimore, aged 18, Ronnie Leighton, aged 15, and Ahmet Salih, aged 14. The three were questioned without a parent, lawyer, or other adult present. During these interviews Lattimore and Leighton made statements admitting involvement in the killing, and all three admitted to arson. Lattimore had severe learning difficulties, could not read or write, and was later described as having the mental age of a young child.

The confessions were central to the prosecution despite conflicting forensic evidence. Medical witnesses initially estimated that Confait had died in the evening, a period for which the youths had alibis, but at trial the estimated time of death was revised to allow for a later killing. On 24 November 1972, Lattimore was convicted of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and of arson; Leighton was convicted of murder, arson, and burglary; and Salih was convicted of burglary and arson. Lattimore was detained under mental health legislation, Leighton received a life sentence, and Salih was sent to a residential school because of his age.

Campaigning by Lattimore's family and others kept the case in public view. A first appeal was rejected in July 1973, but in June 1975 Home Secretary Roy Jenkins referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. On 17 October 1975 the court quashed all three convictions after reassessed forensic evidence undermined the timeline on which the confessions relied.

A subsequent inquiry led by Sir Henry Fisher, whose report was presented to Parliament in December 1977, criticised aspects of the investigation but controversially suggested that two of the young men had been involved, a conclusion that was widely rejected. In 1980 the Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers, told the House of Commons that all three were innocent.

The case became a landmark example of a miscarriage of justice and drove reform of English criminal procedure. It contributed to the establishment of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure, which reported in 1981, and to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which introduced safeguards including recorded interviews, access to legal advice, and the appropriate-adult system for vulnerable and juvenile suspects. The Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and the creation of the Crown Prosecution Service also followed. A later police report named a possible suspect, but no one has ever been prosecuted for the killing, which remains officially unsolved.