The family of a dad who was the last person to be hanged in Wales have received an apology from police as he was found to have been wrongly convicted.
Mahmood Mattan was executed in 1952 for the brutal murder of Cardiff shopkeeper Lily Volpert, despite there being no evidence linking him to the crime.
Police at the time ignored the fact he had alibis backed by witnesses and arrested him within hours of the murder.
During his trial the Somali-born father denied the use of an interpreter and was described by his own barrister as a “semi-civilised savage” before he was found guilty by an all-white jury.
Months after his death at the hands of hangman Albert Pierrepoint, his family lodged an appeal and in 2001 received compensation from the Home Office.
Now they have been given an apology, the BBC reports.
South Wales Police chief constable Jeremy Vaughan said: “This is a case very much of its time - racism, bias and prejudice would have been prevalent throughout society, including the criminal justice system.
"There is no doubt Mahmood Mattan was the victim of a miscarriage of justice as a result of a flawed prosecution, of which policing was clearly a part.
"It is right and proper an apology is made on behalf of policing for what went so badly wrong in this case 70 years ago and for the terrible suffering of Mr Mattan's family and all those affected by this tragedy for many years.”
The apology came too late for several members of Mr Mattan’s family who died after campaigning for several decades for his name to be cleared.
Granddaughter Tanya Mattan described the apology as “insincere.”
Shortly before Ms Volpert was murdered her neice had seen her talking to a mystery man and the door of the shop, although no one could identify him, Wales Online reported.
Mary Tolley and Margaret Bush, who had been the last two customers in the shop, said they had not seen anyone matching Mr Mattan's description loitering in the doorway.
After pressurised questioning, Ms Tolley changed her story only to change it back again at trial.
Despite no evidence being found when Mr Mattan's lodgings were searched he was still arrested and charged with the murder.
The main witness at the subsequent trial was Harold Cover – subsequently jailed in 1969 for the attempted murder of his own daughter – who claimed he had seen Mr Mattan leaving Ms Volpert's shop on the night of the murder.
At the time officers had told the alleged killer he would die for Ms Volpert’s murder “whether he did it or not."
