Justice for Kevan Thakrar
Kevan Thakrar was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for a conviction built on weak identification, second-hand claims and joint enterprise. He is innocent. Kevan has always said he was not at the scene. The prosecution evidence never reliably placed him there. He has spent years fighting from inside prison while spending extended time in various Close Supervision Centres and segregation units, where he’s faced significant restrictions on communication.
Kevan before the case
Family and friends know him as Kev: one of four brothers, academically capable, active, and still at the beginning of adulthood when he was wrongly pulled into a murder case he had no part in. Kevan is innocent and has fought to prove it ever since.
His story begins before the case and continues through the conviction, appeals, letters from prison, Close Supervision Centres and segregation, and the support that has kept his name visible. The fuller account shows who Kevan was before the case, what failed him at trial, and how he has kept fighting through years of prison isolation.
Why the conviction cannot stand
Kevan has always said he was not at the scene. The prosecution case never reliably placed him there. It then relied on second-hand claims he could not properly confront and on joint enterprise as the legal path to guilt. Read together, those weaknesses show why the conviction cannot stand.
Kevan was not at the scene. Misidentification wrongly connected him to a crime he had no part in.
Without that misidentification, there would have been no basis to charge Kevan.
Read about the misidentificationStatements attributed to people in Northern Cyprus who had never met Kevan were translated from Turkish and read in court. Those second-hand claims were crucial to the conviction, yet the people who purportedly made them did not testify, leaving the defence unable to question them.
Kevan could not confront the people whose statements were used against him.
Read hearsay contextJoint enterprise helped turn disputed facts and alleged association into murder liability. In Kevan’s case, the law helped bridge gaps the prosecution evidence could not carry on its own.
Legal theory made disputed evidence more dangerous, not more reliable.
Read joint enterprise contextKevan has spent years in Close Supervision Centres and segregation conditions. That affects health, legal papers, communication, complaints and the ability to keep proving innocence from inside prison.
Prison treatment is part of the justice fight because it shapes his ability to challenge the conviction.
Read prison law contextWhere things stand now
Kevan is innocent. He continues to challenge his wrongful conviction, the isolation imposed on him and the loss of property and legal papers. People outside prison can help him stay connected and obtain the documents, research and legal support he needs.
Kevan has always said he was not at the scene, and the prosecution evidence never reliably placed him there. Identification, hearsay and joint enterprise remain central to why the conviction cannot stand.
Years in Close Supervision Centres and segregation have restricted communication, legal papers, health, family contact and the work needed to keep proving innocence from inside prison.
In September 2013, District Judge Hickman found Kevan’s property-loss claim well-founded and awarded him £814.97. The court accepted that photographs and legal papers had been lost during his transfer from HMP Frankland.
Read the property judgmentLetters, documents, research, corrections, volunteer work and fair coverage all help Kevan keep fighting from inside prison and help the truth reach people who can act.
Latest updates
Kevan and supporters continue to write, document prison conditions, explain legal issues and keep the case visible. The newest public posts appear here so people arriving on the homepage can follow what has changed most recently.
Kevan was cleared by a jury after HMP Frankland, yet his confinement in Close Supervision Centres and segregation has continued for years. He has described suffering physical and sexual violence, racism and prolonged isolation while fighting to prove his innocence.
Kevan was moved into the Close Supervision Centre system after HMP Frankland. His acquittal did not end that confinement. Isolation, transfers and restrictions on contact have made his fight for justice harder.
A jury acquitted Kevan in 2011 after hearing his lawful self-defence case and evidence of the abuse he suffered at HMP Frankland. His confinement in the Close Supervision Centre system has continued for years after that verdict.
Kevan describes how prison complaints and the Prison and Probation Ombudsman have failed prisoners trying to expose abuse and obtain an effective investigation.
Browse the archive for older letters, legal explainers, prison-condition posts, campaign history and material that still helps people understand the case.
How to help
Supporters can read the material, share it clearly, send useful information and keep the case in front of people who can help. A careful share can reach someone with a document, memory, legal skill, public platform or contact that matters.
The Story and Evidence pages ground support in Kevan’s life and the failures in the case.
Tell people Kevan is innocent and point them to the evidence, timeline, legal issues and recent updates.
Contact is for information, corrections, press interest, archive material or practical skills that can help.
Students, researchers, writers, activists and practical supporters can help with evidence work, archives and outreach.
