 As
Susan May walked towards the prison gates a free woman, fellow
inmates and friends came to the windows cheering and waving in
a touching scene which proved how Susan has touched the lives
of those that have met her. In an emotional reunion outside the
prison with her son, Adam, and her supporters she said: “It
feels surreal; I’ve gone through the motions of leaving
prison and had a nice send off from the girls and now I can’t
wait to see all my grandchildren.”
‘The girls’ paid tribute to Susan in the many goodbye
and good luck cards, describing her as a ‘role model’,
‘true inspiration’ and saying it was a ‘privilege’
to know her. All said they were confident Susan would get her
name cleared and justice would be done. They gave Susan gifts
including a plant from the gardens she worked in and a necklace
with a scales of justice pendant.
Susan read out her statement condemning those who allowed this
injustice to carry on, in particular Oldham police and local
people who withheld information about the murderer, and pledging
to carry on the fight.
Her son, Adam, told the waiting throng of reporters that although
overjoyed to have his mum home; “The champagne will
only come out in London at the High Court.” He emphasized
that the most important thing to Susan is to clear her name
and that the fight will go on. He added: “Several people
high up in the justice system have said to her they know she
is innocent. There should be recriminations for the police –
they lied and ‘conveniently’ lost evidence. People
have to pay for what they have done to my mother.”
He said he is glad she is now free to tell her own story and:
“It will be hard for us all, we’ll take one day
at a time. She draws strength from her supporters and the strength
that she’s shown has been amazing.”
 Back
in her home town of Royton, Susan was overcome by emotion during
the first of many media interviews. She described how her first
stop after leaving prison was the cemetery to visit the graves
of her Aunty as well as her parents, who both died while she
was in prison. She may only now be able to really grieve for
them.
Having only been told at lunchtime the previous day that she
would be coming out, Susan felt overwhelmed and as if on ‘autopilot’.
She said that due to refusing offending behaviour courses; “I
had conditioned my own mind that I may never come out.”
Driving through Royton was an emotional experience, seeing familiar
landmarks not seen for so long, as well as many changes in the
town which she looks forward to getting used to!
To her gathered supporters and friends, Susan said: “I’ve
been overwhelmed with support and the campaign goes on. It is
emotional leaving prison behind, seeing Adam and friends who
have been so staunch and given me strength.”
What still drives Susan, and the first point she emphasises,
is the need to fight on until her name is cleared and justice
is done for both herself and her Aunty. Although happy to be
free, Susan said:
| “I get a heavy heart because I’m still
a convicted person, convicted for a crime I didn’t
commit [...] If you are wrongly convicted you eat, breathe
and sleep the conviction. That’s my whole life until
it’s overturned [...] I can’t get on with
my life, I owe it to Aunty to carry on the campaign because
she relied on me and she deserves justice [...] Until
this happened to me, or until you have been touched by
the system you have no idea how flawed and faulty it is" |
| ”My case went wrong at the very beginning,
I was wrong to trust my original legal team. If you haven’t
used evidence which was available pre-trial it’s
surrounded by protocol and red tape and it’s difficult
to get through it [...] I was brought up to trust the
police and it’s frightening when you know that they
perjure themselves on oath and are still fabricating evidence
even at appeal. I’m convinced some in Oldham police
know this conviction is wrong. Forensic evidence was altered
12 months after my conviction, which should tell them
there’s something wrong.” |
Susan still believes that the marks on the wall (hand-print
evidence) hold the key to her innocence. The chemicals used
by forensics bring up stains years old, and as Susan says; ”I’m
not surprised my prints were all over, I was there every day!”
Susan made an appeal directly to those people who may have
information about who killed Aunty to come forward as circumstances
have changed and now may be the right time.
She attributed her focus on the campaign and the love and support
she has received to giving her a purpose to carry on when faced
with the lows of prison life. She said:
| “Being innocent sustained me. I can sleep at
night and hold my head up high. The longer it goes on
and when I lose appeals I come back flattened but pick
myself up, dust myself off and start writing correspondence
and I’m fired up again. That’s what’s
kept me going.” |
During her time inside, 5 grandchildren have been born who
she looks forward to playing with. They all know Susan and have
visited her and she talks to them daily.
Susan's case is now being re-investigated by the Criminal Cases
Review Commission.
| “I can’t draw a line under the last 12
years. I met some wonderful people and experienced some
aweful things in prison. It opened my eyes to the prison
system. But that’s another fight.” |
|