A CONVICTED murderer, who claims he was wrongly jailed for killing a Preston man, says police banned him from the funeral of his mother.
Sam Cole, one of three men jailed in 1998 for the gang killing of drug dealer John Dookie, is still in prison though one co-defendant dramatically confessed to the murder in the Evening Post around five years ago – saying Cole was not involved.
Afte
r the confession, another victim and friend of the dead man, James Handyside, who was stabbed alongside him in the incident, also called the Post to say that Cole was not involved.
Cole's mother, Sue, worked tirelessly for years to have her son freed, even after she discovered she was suffering from breast cancer. She beat that but died recently from a brain tumour.
Cole, who was downgraded to a Category B prisoner earlier this year, applied for permission to attend her funeral which was three days before Christmas.
He says that he was refused permission after police objected to him attending the service and would give him no reason for the decision.
Dookie, 22, of Princes Reach, Docklands, Preston, died after he was stabbed outside the Variety Pub in St Peter's Street, Preston, on Valentine's Day 1996 in a feud over drug dealing territory.
The other two jailed for the crime, Stephen Mellor, of Moor Lane, Preston, and Anthony Kirk, of Cranbourne Street, Bamber Bridge, also pleaded not guilty at their Preston Crown Court trial.
Mellor phoned the Evening Post from HMP Gartree in 2000 to confess his own guilt after Sue distributed thousands of leaflets through Preston, appealing for information which might clear her son.
Mellor, then 24, said that Liverpudlian Cole was innocent and admitted that, if he had come clean at the time, Cole would now be free.
He said: "I feel guilty Cole is in prison – it was my fault for not admitting it from day one. We pleaded not guilty and stuck to our story.
"The truth needs to come out. I am guilty and freely admit it now. I am sorry for what I did and Cole is an innocent man."
During the murder trial, the jury heard Dookie and Handyside were small-time dealers in the Meadow Street area when Mellor began undercutting their prices on the same patch.
Mellor, formerly of Moor Lane, was beaten up and was said to have organised the revenge attack in which Dookie was killed. Cole, from Liverpool, was picked out in an identity parade but always denied being involved.
Kevin McMahon, of the Merseyside Against Injustice Group, insists that Cole's imprisonment is a gross miscarriage of justice. He said: "Sam is very upset that he was not allowed to go to the funeral.
"He is a Category B prisoner so, on the face of it, there was no reason why he should not be allowed to go.
"The church was absolutely packed. Sue was a woman who had great spirit and drive, a big personality and a great sense of humour.
"But her greatest wish was unfulfilled – that she should see her son walk free."
Sue always protested her son's innocence. Following the revelations by Mellor, Kirk and Mr Handyside, she said: "I'm over the moon because it's taken six years to get to this. I think he's got a real chance this time and we are very optimistic that it will get to appeal."
When her son's third application to appeal was rejected shortly after her breast cancer diagnosis, she said: "I feel like screaming."
