Murder of Maxwell Confait

In October 2019, the case was examined in the BBC Two programme Catching Britain's Killers: The Crimes That Changed Us.

As a result of increased attention to police procedure, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 were passed on a bipartisan basis, and the Crown Prosecution Service was established as well.

After that report was published, Patrick Mayhew described the current state of British Law, absent reform, as harming both police and suspects. In a statement in the House of Commons in 1981, Mayhew said: "Both the police and the suspect are hampered by this state of affairs—the police because they may be obliged to operate in areas of doubtful or ambiguous legal authority and the suspect because his rights at any particular moment may be so unclear that he lacks any proper or practical legal protection."

In August 1980, Sir Michael Havers prepared a statement to Parliament declaring the three young men innocent. When he sent for Fisher asking him to concur with this statement, Fisher refused to do so.

On 20 February 1980, Detective Chief Superintendent E.J. George and Inspector E. Ellison presented a report to the Director of Public Prosecutions identifying Douglas Franklin as Confait's murderer and Paul Pooley as a witness to the murder.

Fisher's conclusions, and other high-profile cases of misconduct, led to the setting up of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure (1979–1981). The Commission examined and made recommendations for policy change regarding the powers and duties of the police in respect of the investigation of criminal offences, the rights of suspects, and the responsibility for the prosecution of criminal offences. The commission held 50 full meetings, beginning in 1978, and its final report was published in 1981.

During spring 1974, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, gave his opinion that this case could properly be referred back to the Court of Appeal. On 18 June 1975, Roy Jenkins announced in Parliament that he was referring the case to the Appeal Court.

On 17 October 1975, the convictions of all three boys were thrown out by the Court of Appeal.

Days later, Goode was admitted to Bexley Psychiatric Hospital in a confused and traumatised state. In May 1974, he committed suicide by swallowing cyanide.

The general election in February 1974 brought Roy Jenkins and Alex Lyon, both of whom were committed to reviewing miscarriages of justice, into the Home Office. The new Member of Parliament for Lewisham was Christopher Price, MP, who had been working for Thames Television and became Principal of Leeds Metropolitan University after leaving Parliament.

A 30-minute documentary about this case, in which Teare placed Confait's death between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., was screened on ITV in November 1974. Another contemporary pathologist, Professor Keith Simpson, was brought in, and he broadly agreed with Professor Teare.

On 26 July 1973, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by the boys' legal representatives.

Maxwell Thomas Berty Confait (born in the Seychelles in 1945), known as Michelle to her friends, was a 26-year-old trans woman who was murdered in London, England, on either 21 or 22 April 1972. The investigation into Confait's death and the convictions of three youths based on false confessions raised questions about police procedures in the United Kingdom and caused a major review in how police treat suspects, particularly minors and "the educationally subnormal."

The fire brigade was called to 27 Doggett Road, Catford, South East London, England, at 1:21 a.m. on 22 April 1972. One of the firefighters found the body of a mixed-race person in the upstairs back bedroom of the house behind a locked door. The fire was extinguished by 1:31 a.m. and the police arrived at 1:45 a.m., followed by a forensic pathologist at 2:00 a.m.

It was concluded that Confait had been killed on either 21 or 22 April 1972.

Two days after the discovery of Confait's body, on 24 April 1972, there were a number of fires in the area, including alongside the railway line near Catford Bridge railway station, in a small sports hut on Ladywell Fields, and at a derelict house in the next street, 1 Nelgarde Road.

By 25 April 1972, three days after the murder, the police considered the case solved.

On 24 November 1972, the jury found Colin Lattimore guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and two counts of arson for the fires at Doggett Road and Ladywell Fields. He was ordered to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act 1959 and was sent to Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

The home where the body was found was that of Confait's landlord, Winston Goode. The two had first met in a public house in Lewisham, SE London, in 1970, shortly after Goode had separated from his wife. Confait and Goode reportedly shared a habit of wearing women's clothes and in February 1972, Confait began renting a room at Goode's house.