Greek court drops murder charge against Briton

For Immediate Release

Justice charity Fair Trials Abroad and the family of Cornish man Ryan Johnson, 33, are rejoicing following the news that the today that the court in Crete has agreed that murder charges against him be dropped.

Mr Johnson was arrested in Chania, Crete in March 2006 on suspicion of having murdered his parents, Terry and Josephine, at their home in Almirida. In April this year, Greek prosecutors recommended charges against him be dropped.

Ryan Johnson had been staying with his parents, and woke on the morning of Sunday, 12 March 2006, to discover they had been brutally murdered and the house burgled.

Fair Trials Abroad Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen welcomed the court’s decision:

“From the start, it has been clear to everyone but the local police that there simply wasn’t the motive to connect Ryan to the crime. Yet he has been forced to endure a bungled investigation, more than a year’s confinement to Crete and the charge of having brutally murdered his parents without a skerrick of reliable evidence.

“Police trampled all over the crime scene, pressured witnesses to make false statements and failed to submit a medical report in Ryan’s favour to the court.

“They did not pursue other leads, even though there had been similar crimes committed following Ryan’s arrest and when DNA evidence revealed the involvement of an ‘unknown male’ but failed to show any link between Ryan and the crime, any cause to prosecute him evaporated.

“We are therefore immensely relieved that the prosecutor and the court agree there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Ryan, leaving him free to return to Cornwall and his family in a month’s time, when the court’s decision becomes final.

“He has been through a terrible ordeal, but can now grieve his parents in peace and get on with his life as a free man,” concluded Ms Wolthuizen.