Her husband put his arm around her, sharing a caring word or glance, as she relived the worst day of her life. On Friday, June 5, 2026, the woman sat feet away from the man who had so brutally attacked her more than two decades ago, finally seeing him sentenced for a crime that had also destroyed another innocent life.
Paul Quinn was handed a 24-year prison term for the 2003 rape of a young mother as she walked home in Salford. The judge, Mr Justice Bright, described the attack as “direct physical evil” and called the victim a hero for coming forward to give testimony a second time. But the case has become one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the English criminal justice system, because for 17 years, Andrew Malkinson – a wholly innocent man – served the sentence for Quinn’s crime.
“Paul Quinn jailed for 24 years for 2003 rape; Andrew Malkinson wrongly served 17 years.”
In 2003, the woman, then 33, had been at her boyfriend’s home in Little Hulton and decided to walk home in the early hours. Suddenly, she was swept off her feet and pushed down a motorway embankment, where she was knocked unconscious, raped and brutally attacked. What followed would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Quinn, who remained emotionless throughout the sentencing hearing, had watched from the shadows for almost two decades. His internet search history revealed he was aware of Malkinson’s plight and actively researching it as he remained a free man. “It is utterly clear that you knew, throughout, that another man had been arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned,” the judge told him. “You knew that his conviction was wrongful. You also knew that it was extremely useful to you.”
But Malkinson, who was finally cleared after 17 years behind bars, said he was insulted and appalled at Quinn’s sentence, claiming he had got off lightly.
The victim said in her impact statement: “After 20 years, I now have justice but that does not change the fact that two lives have been impacted in such a way. I am aware that someone has had 17 years robbed as a result of this case and that stays with me.”
The judge acknowledged the “indirect evil” committed against Malkinson, telling Quinn: “It must have preyed on your conscience that another man was in prison, in effect serving your sentence; it certainly should have preyed on your conscience. But you were only too willing to sit back and take advantage of his misfortune.”
For the woman, the ordeal remains with her every day. She told in detail how the attack has affected her for two decades. While she praised the sentence as justice, the knowledge that an innocent man lost 17 years of his life will never leave her.