Cannock Chase killer Raymond Morris 'living simple life'
Cannock Chase child killer Raymond Morris lives a "quiet and simple" life in prison, with other inmates unaware of his notoriety, his solicitor said today.
Cannock Chase child killer Raymond Morris lives a "quiet and simple" life in prison, with other inmates unaware of his notoriety, his solicitor said today.
The years have "taken their toll" on the 81-year-old, who is fighting to clear his name over the murder of seven-year-old Walsall girl Christine Darby in 1967, it is claimed.
Morris, a former engineer from Green Lane, Walsall, is behind bars at HMP Wymott in Preston. He was has been locked up for the past 42 years for the murder and is also the prime suspect in the killings of schoolgirls Margaret Reynolds of Aston and Diane Tift from Bloxwich.
His solicitor Amy-Jo Cutts told the Express & Star: "He is physically well but the years have taken their toll.
"It has been quite a battle for Ray, who has always maintained his innocence. He is largely anonymous in prison because he has not got that notoriety among the younger generation of inmates.
"He lives a quiet and simple prison life and doesn't want that notoriety and huge stigma."
Mrs Cutts has been working on Morris's appeal case for the past seven years and said it was a shock when it was rejected by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in June.
She has now been granted permission to apply for a judicial review of that decision and a hearing will take place in December at Leeds Administrative Court.
Morris, a divorced father-of-two, is fighting to get his case back to the Court of Appeal. If his conviction is overturned, it would be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.
Mrs Cutts said: "Ray, to his credit, has always resisted the media because of all the history it drags up. It is not just an ordeal for the families involved but for him.He realises the severity and horrendous nature of these crimes.
"Using the media was not something we wanted to do but this is a last-ditch attempt."
The cases of five-year-old Diane and six-year-old Margaret remain on file to this day. Morris was never convicted of the crimes.
His legal legal team says there is evidence of alleged police misconduct in respect of his 1969 murder conviction. The grounds of the appeal rest on claims that police interview notes were tampered with.
