Wrongfully convicted man still being held in prison speaks out

Friday, 20 September 2024

Stephen Stone was convicted in 1999 for two murders, but has always insisted he is innocent.

A man who the Crown accepts was wrongfully convicted, and has already spent 26 years in prison, has spoken out about the justice system’s continued cruelty.

Stephen Stone was found guilty of the 1989 murders of Deane Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens, in what has become known as the Gone Fishing case.

In the Court of Appeal in August, the Crown accepted he and three others had been wrongfully convicted in the case, and urged the court to quash their convictions.

However, the Crown indicated it wanted Stone to be retried, despite virtually all the evidence used to convict him, having collapsed, but provided minimal opposition to Stone being bailed in the meantime.

Deane Fuller-Sandys disappeared in 1989, and was thought to have been swept from rocks while fishing. A decade later, Stephen Stone and Gail Maney were controversially convicted of his murder.

But when Stone’s lawyers applied for bail, the court denied it, without giving any reasons.

For the last five weeks, Stone has remained in prison - where he has spent nearly half his life - even though it is accepted he was wrongfully convicted.

In a statement to The Post, Stone said he was struggling to cope.

“I've done 26 years for two murders that had nothing to do with me. The case against me was a fabrication, a total stitch up, and I thought that was made clear in court in August. I heard the Crown agree that I had been wrongfully convicted of two murders. It was incredible to hear that.

According to the police theory, Leah Stephens witnessed Stephen Stone shooting Deane Fuller-Sandys, and Stone then killed her, to prevent Stephens speaking out. The theory was based on statements from four witnesses given immunity, two of whom have retracted their evidence.

“The night I heard that, I packed my bags, gave away my stuff to other prisoners. I told people I love that I am coming home. My sick father, family and friends - after 26 years I was sure I was going home. How could I not be?

“But I should have known, I cannot trust this system.”

Stone said he left the legal arguments to his lawyers.

“But at a human level I don’t understand how the Crown can say I was wrongfully convicted of two murders, but here I stay, in the dark. I haven’t been told why I haven’t been given bail, I’ve had no explanation or reasons given.

“I don't know what to say to people about why I’m still in prison, so I have cut people who love me out of my life, then I don't have to talk to them and be asked questions I can’t answer.”

Stephen Stone was 19 when he supposedly shot Deane Fuller-Sandys, in front of eight other people, in a suburban Auckland garage, during daytime.

During his time in prison, Stone has done numerous courses, and found solace in carving, which has helped him stay sane, and kept his mind busy, he said.

“But I can't do much of that now as I wait and wait for this to end.

Investigator Tim McKinnel, who helped prove the innocence of Teina Pora and Alan Hall, is adamant Stephen Stone didn’t kill Deane Fuller-Sandys and Leah Stephens.

“The justice system has been cruel to me over the years, but this is the worst. How long do I have to wait, without any answers?”

The Court of Appeal has indicated it will rule on Stone’s bail when it decides whether he should stand trial again for the murders of Fuller-Sandys, and Stephens. But it has given no idea when it might make that judgment, with its decisions often taking many months.

If the judges don’t order a retrial, Stone will walk free almost immediately.

If a retrial is ordered, Stone will have to apply to the High Court for bail.

Investigator Tim McKinnel, who helped expose the wrongful convictions of Stone and his co-accused Gail Maney, said Stone’s situation is “incredibly unjust”.

“It’s been difficult waiting, but none more so than for Stephen, who remains in prison for two crimes I’m certain he had nothing to do with.

“I can’t understand how the system can allow him to sit in prison, and not get bail. And he doesn’t even know why he can’t get bail.”

“A day in prison is hard enough at the best of times. But a day in prison when you know that everyone knows you’ve been wrongfully convicted, it’s mentally torturous.

“And I hear that in his voice when I talk to him. And we feel helpless.”

McKinnel said all they can do is try to reassure Stone the court would be doing its best to deal with his situation, but he felt the case was extraordinary, and deserved extraordinary attention.

“Every hour in prison is a day, every day is a week, every week is a month - it’s excruciating.”