I served 5 years in prison for crimes I didnt commit it cost over $600K to prove my innocence

A UK dad who spent five and a half years in prison for a crime he did not commit has spoken of the horror he faced — following the release of Peter Sullivan.Sullivan, 68, was freed this week after serving 38 years for a murder he did not commit — believed to be the longest miscarriage of justice experienced by a living inmate in the UK.For Brian Buckle, 53, a father and former construction manager from Fishguard, Wales, this case sounds all-too familiar.In 2017, at Swansea Crown Court, Brian became a convicted sex offender, sentenced to serve 15 years in prison after a jury had found him guilty of 16 counts of historical child sex abuse.His conviction was overturned when another trial acquitted Brian after fresh analysis found DNA evidence used against him at his original hearing was flawed.It cost him $669,300 to fight the case.Brian walked away a free man — but has been left with nothing, after the family’s savings were spent on his appeal and the UK Government denied him compensation.He was not eligible for government legal aid to help employ a legal team because his household’s disposable income was more than $50,200 a year.Speaking of what it feels like to be wrongly convicted — like Sullivan — he said he felt like he was in a movie.He could not process what was happening to him and how his life was about to change forever.He was sick to his stomach.Brian didn’t believe it when he heard the guilty verdict.

He sat in the dock wondering what was going on — even asking the court security officers behind him what was happening.They responded: “You’re coming with us, mate.”Brian was held in the vulnerable people wing of the HM Prison Parc in Bridgend, Wales — an area where sex offenders, child abusers and police officers are held.He said: “I just sat down at the table, just crying and crying.“This officer came in and got me and just said: ‘Two ways you can get through prison.Just get on with it, do what you’re told.

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