Convicted: 1982
Time served: 27 years
Conviction quashed: 2009
Sentenced to life for the killing of Teresa de Simone, 22, a clerk and part-time bar worker from Southampton. Her body was dumped after she had been raped and strangled.
At his trial in 1982, he pleaded not guilty and tried to explain to the jury that he had lied about the murder. Hodgson was know to be a pathological liar, but was found guilty. In 2008, DNA tests on three samples from the victim's body - which were not available at the time of the conviction - conclusively proved that Hodgson was not the killer. Photograph: David Levene
Convicted: 2001
Time served: 8 years
Conviction quashed: 2007
Jailed for the murder of BBC TV presenter Jill Dando, 37, who was shot dead in the head on her doorstep in Fulham, west London, in 1999.
After two trials and two appeals George was released in 2007 after serving eight years in prison. The case relied on contested forensic evidence that could have linked George to the murder, but may not have been strong enough to convince a jury of his guilt.
On his release George, who had previous convictions for sex attacks and stalking, said in an interview that he could not have killed Ms Dando because he was stalking another woman at the time of her death.
Pictured above, George leaves the Old Bailey in London with Dr Susan Young, after he was cleared of murder on 1 August 2008 Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Convicted: N/A (charged in 1993)
Time served: 13 months on remand
Stagg was arrested, released, and then arrested again in one of the biggest murder hunts carried out in the capital. The victim, Rachel Nickell, was walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common in 1992 when she was stabbed 49 times. After an undercover operation using a female police officer to befriend Stagg, he was charged with murder and spent 13 months in prison before a judge threw out the case against him citing the "blatant" manipulation of the defendant and the "misconceived" nature of the undercover operation.
In 2007, Robert Napper was charged with Nickell's murder. Stagg claims that he is still shunned by neighbours and has been spat at on the street. He had to wait 16 years for an apology from the Metropolitan police for his wrongful arrest. Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1999
Time served: 3 years
Conviction quashed: 2003
Solicitor Sally Clark was sentenced to life for smothering her 11-week-old son Christopher in 1996 and shaking eight-week-old son Harry to death two years later.
She was largely set free because an expert witness at her trial, Professor Roy Meadow, was discredited. He had wrongly claimed that there is a "one in 73 million" chance of two cot deaths in an affluent family. The Royal Statistical Society disagreed, saying there was "no statistical basis" for the figure. Clark died four years after her release, from acute alcohol intoxication. She never came to terms with her wrongful conviction Photograph: Dan Chung
Convicted: 1977
Time served: 20 years
Conviction quashed: 2002
London underworld figures Micky Cornwall and Bill Moseley were killed in the manner of a gangland execution in 1974. Career criminals Reg Dudley and Bob Maynard were given life sentences for the double murder in 1977, despite protesting their innocence. Six weeks after the trial, Moseley's head was found in a public lavatory.
Both Dudley and Maynard were released on appeal. The court heard that there were no witnesses or forensic evidence. The prosecution relied too much on the testimony of an armed robber, Tony Wild, who claimed to have overheard Maynard and Dudley boast about the killings when they were at Brixton prison.
Both men served longer sentences than the original trial judge recommended because they would not admit their guilt. Photograph: Graham Turner
Conviction: 1974
Time served: 27 years
Conviction quashed: 2001
Life tariff for the murder of a typist, Wendy Sewell, in Bakewell, Derbyshire. Mrs Sewell died after being found battered and part-naked in a village cemetery. Downing, 17, discovered the body and at first admitted his guilt and signed a confession. He retracted this but was convicted in 1974.
Downing's conviction was overturned by the court of appeal because of an "unreliable confession and unreliable forensic evidence". When police first questioned him about the murder he was not given the chance to speak to a solicitor, despite his learning difficulties.
Downing has struggled outside of prison. He was recently fined for buying a police "uniform" on the internet and wearing it to the shops Photograph: Ian Waldie/Reuters
Convicted: 1990
Time served: 10 years
Conviction quashed: 2000
All three were jailed for life for taking part in an "orgy of violence" near the M25 in Surrey, 1988. One man was killed, another wounded and two houses were robbed.
The appeal court freed the men on hearing that crucial information was withheld. One victim had told police that the gang who carried out the attacks was made up of three men, two of whom were white. This was not disclosed to the defence team who were representing three black men. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Convicted: 1988
Time served: 11 years
Conviction quashed: 1999
All given life sentences for the robbery and killing of a Cardiff newsagent, Philip Saunders, in 1987. The men were released after an appeal court heard that South Wales police displayed a "systematic disregard" of interrogation rules. Hall, was denied access to a solicitor during key moments in his interrogation, including when he confessed. At times he was handcuffed to a radiator Photograph: Michael Crabtree/PA
Convicted: 1952
Time served: Executed 1952
Conviction quashed: 1998
Mahmood Mattan was hanged for robbing and slitting the throat of a Cardiff shopkeeper in 1952. Born in British Somaliland, he had gone to sea and settled in Wales, marrying a local girl. There was nothing to connect him to the crime. His conviction hinged on a witness who had altered his statement and been rewarded for giving evidence.
His execution went ahead without his wife knowing. She found out later that day when she read a notice pinned to the prison gates saying her husband's hanging had "gone without a hitch".
After a 46-year campaign by his family, Mattan was cleared of murder by an appeal court in 1998. Mattan was the first person hanged for murder to have his conviction quashed. Photograph: Unknown
Convicted: 1952
Time served: Executed 1953
Conviction quashed: 1998
Bentley, 19, was hanged for his involvement in the killing of a policeman during a bungled robbery. At the time he was arrested Bentley shouted to his accomplice "let him have it". Christopher Craig didn't hand over his gun, instead he fired it at PC Sidney Miles and killed him.
In 1998, Bentley was granted a full posthumous pardon after the court of appeal ruled that the original judge had denied him a fair trial. Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1993
Time served: 4 years
Conviction quashed: 1998
Piano teacher jailed for drowning her elderly aunt. Channel 4's Trial and Error highlighted flaws in the case. New medical evidence emerged and Bowler was released. Photograph: PNS/Rex Features
Convicted: 1975
Time served: 23 years
Conviction quashed: 1998
Life sentence for suffocating and beating to death an elderly family friend, Gladys Heath. Court of appeal declared pathologist's original report to be unsound. Nicholls, who now uses a wheelchair, was almost 70 when he was released Photograph: PNS/Rex Features
Convicted: 1979
Time served: 18 years
Conviction quashed: 1997
Carl Bridgewater, 13, was shot in the head, at close range, at a farmhouse near Stourbridge in Staffordshire after he disturbed armed burglars while on his paper round. Two men were sentenced to life for the murder, a third detained indefinitely and a fourth received 12 years for manslaughter.
An appeal court found that Staffordshire police had made up evidence to get a confession from one of the four, Patrick Molloy. All four men had their convictions overturned, but Molloy never saw freedom, he died in prison in 1981 Photograph: Rex Features
Convicted: 1976
Time Served: 16 years
Conviction quashed: 1992
Life sentence for the fatal knife attack on Lesley Molseed, aged 11, on moorland, near Halifax.
Kiszko, 41, was freed because seminal fluid discovered on the victim could not have come from him. He died a recluse two years after his release. His mother, Charlotte, who had long campaigned for his release, died several months after him Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1986
Time served: Seven years
Conviction quashed: 1992
Both given life for the murder of a sex shop manager who had been brutally attacked, raped, had petrol poured - but not lit - over her and left to die.
The brothers were set free after South Wales police were found to have fabricated the evidence against them Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1974
Time served: 18 years
Conviction quashed: 1992
Life sentence for coach bombing which killed 12 people on the M62. During her appeal it emerged that Ward had a history of mental illness and was prone to fantasy and imagined herself to be an IRA member. Her conviction was deemed "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and she was released Photograph: PNS/Rex Features
Convicted: 1990
Time served: 2 years
Conviction quashed: 1992
Jailed for life for the murder of Cardiff prostitute Lynette White, who was slashed more than 50 times.
All three were released in 1992 on appeal. The judges were horrified by details of the police interviews and deemed the convictions as "unsafe and unsatisfactory". One of the three, Tony Paris, lost his father six weeks before he was released and his marriage broke up while he was in prison. Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1975
Time served: 16 years
Conviction quashed: 1991
All given life for two Birmingham pub bombings which killed 21 people and maimed or seriously injured 161.
The six were freed after 16 years in prison and the home secretary announced a royal commission into the criminal justice system.
In the picture above are, from left to right: William Power, Richard McIlkenny, John Walker, Chris Mullin MP, Gerry Hunter, Patrick Hill and Hugh Callaghan Photograph: PNG/Rex Features
Convicted: 1976
Time served: 4-14 years
Convictions quashed: 1991
Seven people, including a mother and her two sons, received jail sentences of up to 14 years for handling explosives that were passed on to IRA bomb makers.
All seven served their sentences and were released with the exception of Patrick 'Giuseppe' Conlon, who died in prison in 1980. The court of appeal later quashed their convictions as the original evidence against them was unsafe. No explosives or bombs were ever found
Photograph above of four members of the Maguire Seven on 11 October 1986 (left to right): youngest son, Patrick (Paddy) Maguire; father, Patrick; mother, Anne; and son Vincent Photograph: Richard Mildenhall
Convicted: 1987
Time served: Six years
Conviction quashed: 1991
All three given life for the killing of PC Keith Blakelock during the 1985 riot on the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham, north London.
The convictions were quashed because a detective fabricated evidence and then lied on oath during the trial. One of the three, Silcott, remained in jail for 17 years for murdering Anthony Smith in a separate incident. Silcott was released in 2003 and maintained that he killed Smith in self-defence. The Blakelock case remains unsolved Photograph: PA
Convicted: 1975
Time served: 15 years
Conviction quashed: 1989
Given life for pub bombings in Guildford, Surrey. The explosions left five people dead and nearly 100 injured. Patrick Armstrong and Paul Hill and were also sentenced for a bomb attack in Woolwich that killed two.
All four were freed on appeal amid emotional scenes at the Old Bailey in 1989. Gerard Conlon's relief was palpable as he screamed: "I am an innocent man!". An investigation into the case, thought to be the worst miscarriage of justice in Britain, uncovered serious flaws in the methods used by Surrey police to obtain confessions Photograph: PA
