Prisoner set to appeal 1997 murder conviction again

A man who was twice found guilty of a 1997 murder has been told he can challenge his second conviction at the Court of Appeal.

Justin Plummer was jailed in 1998 after a jury found he fatally attacked Janice Cartwright-Gilbert, 38, at the building site of her future home near Wilden in Bedfordshire.

Plummer, then 24, had his first conviction quashed in 2021 but was again convicted of murder following a retrial at Aylesbury Crown Court last year and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that he should be allowed to challenge the latest conviction due to an issue with evidence used at the retrial. A full appeal is expected to be held next year.

Ms Cartwright-Gilbert was stabbed with a knife and scissors before her body was set alight in a caravan next to the building site.

At the sentencing hearing in 2023, which Plummer did not attend, Mr Justice Cavanagh said he was a "prolific burglar" who attacked Ms Cartwright-Gilbert after she confronted him as he attempted to steal power tools.

Plummer stabbed her in the heart and neck with a knife and scissors, stamped on her, and then set her body on fire in a caravan, along with her two dogs.

He was originally found guilty of murder at St Albans Crown Court in December 1998, but his conviction was quashed in 2021 after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission due to concerns over expert evidence.

He was found guilty of murder again at a retrial two years later, based on a confession he had made to his cellmate - a police informant.

It was not used in the first trial but was in the second, despite the informant having since died.

On Wednesday, his barrister Katy Thorne KC claimed the use of "hearsay evidence" was an "inherent unfairness".

She said: "It was a cell confession, always troubling, from 25 years ago.

"He says he did not make any such confession. He was able to say that because he did not do it."

Three judges, Lord Justice Edis, Mr Justice Bright and Judge Angela Morris, ruled that Plummer could bring an appeal.

Lord Justice Edis stated that it was an "extraordinary case" and that Plummer's challenge was "arguable".

Addressing Plummer at the end of the hearing, he said: "All we have decided is that your appeal is arguable. That does not mean it will succeed.

"You need to have appropriate expectations about what might happen."

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