Myles Litchmore-Dunbar before his arrest in July 2013. Pic: MLD Campaign
A Catford student has been acquitted of a murder in Greece, after spending more than a year in jail and following a two month trial which is said to have revealed “manifest problems” in the country’s legal system.
Myles Litchmore-Dunbar, 20, who was arrested for the murder of Tyrell Matthews-Burton, 19, in July 2013 was acquitted on November 3 this year. Matthews-Burton died after being stabbed outside a club in Malia, on the island of Crete in Greece.
A witness in court described seeing Litchmore-Dunbar assault Matthews-Burton, but DNA evidence showed Litchmore-Dunbar had not come into contact with the victim.
During the trial, Litchmore-Dunbar’s family raised serious concerns over the conditions in the Greek prison. Both they and Lewisham East MP Heidi Alexander called for the UK government to be involved in the investigation.
The Myles Campaign, which has fought for his release, said they would “not stop until he returns home.”
The campaign said that the Greek prosecutor’s evidence against Litchmore-Dunbar was “insufficient”. They also claim that his family were at times restricted from visiting him in prison and that witnesses during the trial were given “little to no support”.
Since Litchmore-Dunbar’s acquittal, Alexander has been working closely with the family and has pressed the Foreign Office on their behalf to get Litchmore-Dunbar back to the UK.
Alexander spoke to ELL this week: “Myles and his family have been under huge pressure since he was arrested last summer in Greece. They have fought tirelessly to prove his innocence and I am pleased that an end to their ordeal seems to be approaching.”
Reports yesterday claimed that Litchmore-Dunbar had been moved six times since being pronounced not guilty. There are still outstanding charges against one other person, but police remain unsure who killed Matthews-Burton.
Alexander said: “My thoughts are still with the family of Tyrell Matthews-Burton though. They are yet to find an answer to the question of who killed their son and I can’t begin to imagine how hard that must be for them”.
“In my view, the support provided by the UK government to both Tyrell’s family and Myles’ family has been found wanting. The Government has failed to explain why British police get involved in the cases of some overseas murders of British citizens and not others.”
“This is particularly frustrating in this case when there have been manifest problems with the police investigation in Greece and the protracted Greek legal process.”
“I have raised these concerns repeatedly with the Prime Minister and Foreign Office Ministers and I will continue to do all that I can to ensure that whoever killed Tyrell is brought to justice.”
Speaking to BBC 5 Live, Mattews-Burton’s mother said: “We cannot continue this ongoing bloodshed. We cannot continue for families to keep on losing their loved ones.”
Litchmore-Dunbar is said to be travelling back to the UK after being released.
