“The Death of Justice”

Written with Michael O’Brien.

This is the inside story of the Cardiff Newsagent Murder revealed by one of the men wrongly jailed for more than a decade. The violent crime shocked Wales – and the miscarriage of justice which followed sent shock waves through the British legal system.

The book contains a detailed analysis of the murder and police inquiry, a no-holds-barred view of life in jail and an essential guide for anyone trying to prove their innocence.

* Published by Y Lolfa, this book was featured at the 2009 Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival.

Reviews:

“Explosive”    Irish Post

 “An extraordinary, shocking and moving tale that climaxes in the triumph of the ordinary man against an incompetent and complacent Hydra-headed monster of society.”   Western Mail

“Important”   The Guardian

“This book tells of a travesty of justice that should never have been allowed to happen. It is written by the man who was tried and found guilty by a British jury of a murder he had not committed… The book is not for the faint-hearted; it is not a book to read at bedtime. But without doubt it is a book that should be read, for if anything good is to come out of the tale of O’Brien’s incarceration, it is how the man himself has survived his horrendous battle through the highest courts to win his freedom… Now free, O’Brien spends much of his time trying to right the legal system on behalf of others.”    Norma Penfold, gwales.com/Wales Books Council

“O’Brien spent 11 years in prison before being cleared along with two other men of the 1987 murder of the Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders… (His) book reveals the trauma and heartache he suffered in prison, how he taught himself law and successfully took Home Secretaries Michael Howard and Jack Straw to court and how he won his appeal and eventual release and the largest payout in legal history…”   newswales.co.uk

“A no holds barred account of the eleven years (O’Brien) spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.”   Arts Council of Wales

“A tale of miscarriage of justice, of a young man from a poor family who, against all the odds, overturned an indictment for murder – it sounds like a good storyline for a film… But The Death of Justice is no fantasy. It is a first-hand account of a decade-long struggle by a Cardiff man who fought tenaciously to overturn a murder conviction.”   Lila Haines, Planet – The Welsh Internationalist

“When Michael O’Brien was arrested for the murder of Cardiff newsagent, Philip Saunders, more than 20 years ago, he can little have thought that one day he would be one of the guest speakers at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival, rubbing shoulders with the astronomer royal and addressing a packed house on the vagaries of the criminal justice system. Yet that is where he found himself last week-end as he took questions on his book about the case, The Death of Justice.” Dr Robert N Moles

Read the four FIVE-STAR reviews for this book on Amazon.