'I'm serving life for a gangland murder I can prove I had nothing to do with'

It had all the hallmarks of a gangland killing. A body with gunshot wounds to the head found in a torched car on a remote lovers' lane in Bury.

Graham Redford, a former soldier and surveillance expert who had done work for GMP, was convicted of the murder of Stacey Lloyd. His body was found by firefighters in the boot of his burning, blue Subaru Impreza on the night of January 16th 2005. Having already spent a year on remand, Redford was jailed for life on February 21st 2006 and told he must serve at least 30 years.

In October 2020 Redford applied to the Court of Appeal for an extension of time limit for filing a Notice of Appeal and for leave of appeal against his conviction. The application was refused. However, after nearly two decades behind bars he maintains his innocence and is mounting a fresh bid to clear his name.

Redford claims there were major flaws in the case built against him by GMP. His case has been screened by APPEAL, the same organisation that successfully led a campaign to prove Andrew Malkinson had been wrongfully convicted of a rape for which he spent 17 years in jail. Redford hopes APPEAL will meet with him early this year to discuss whether they will take on his case.

A jury who heard Redford's case at Manchester Crown Court was told that whilst serving with the Army he received a military conviction in 1982 for stealing 32 9mm bullets. But Redford was later informed by the Central Criminal Records and Intelligence Office, Service Police Crime Bureau, that a "clerical error" had occurred when his Ministry of Defence Army file had been accessed for GMP.

The Bureau conceded he was never disciplined for unlawful possession of ammunition, and the issuing of such a statement was "a mistake". He