Paul Quinn researched case despite having little interest in news websites, jury hears at Manchester crown court
An alleged rapist who is suspected to have evaded justice for nearly 20 years carried out an “exponential” rise in online searches about the case when it emerged police were investigating a new suspect, a court has heard.
Paul Quinn, 51, is accused of raping and violently beating a woman in 2003 in an attack that led to the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in prison in what jurors were told was one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Britain.
Quinn was arrested in December 2022 when DNA tests linked him to saliva on clothing left by a bite that partly severed the victim’s nipple, the jury was told. He denies two counts of rape, one count of attempt to strangle and one count of assault intending to cause grievous bodily harm.
Quinn researched the case online before there had been a “substantial wave of publicity” about Malkinson’s case, a jury at Manchester crown court heard on Thursday.
