https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7796971/Double-jeopardy-burglar-jailed-life-killing-two-pensioners.htmlSadistic killer who made legal history by becoming first person to be convicted of same murder TWICE is jailed for life over deaths of two pensioners
Jewel thief Michael Weir, 53, jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years
He murdered two defenceless pensioners during burglaries carried out in 1998
Weir was convicted 20 years after the killings in a unique double jeopardy case
By Amie Gordon For Mailonline
Published: 11:11, 16 December 2019 | Updated: 13:36, 16 December 2019
A sadistic killer who murdered defenceless pensioners in their own homes has today been jailed for life, in a case that broke new legal ground. Michael Weir has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years for the murders of two pensioners. The 53-year-old was convicted 20 years after the killings in a unique double jeopardy case. In a legal first, his original murder conviction was thrown out on appeal on a technicality when prosecutors were 24 hours late filing legal papers. Then new DNA evidence emerged that got him convicted of the original murder and also a second vicious killing. Weir had tortured and murdered war veteran Leonard Harris, 78, and mother-of-three Rose Seferian, 83, during burglaries in 1998. Connections between the two deaths were not made at the time, but Weir was arrested for Mr Harris's murder in June 1998 after DNA evidence from a glove found at the scene linked him to the attack. He was convicted in July 1999 but acquitted following an appeal in May 2000 when the Court of Appeal ruled that evidence provided by the prosecution was inadmissible. The Crown Prosecution Service had been set to overturn that decision, but then missed a deadline to appeal to the House of Lords by one day. Jurors made legal history after they found Weir guilty of both murders following an Old Bailey trial. It was the first time a second murder charge has been added to a double jeopardy case, brought in light of new and compelling evidence following a change in the law in 2005. Jill Harris, the daughter-in-law of Mr Harris, revealed after the sentencing today that her husband had suffered a stroke in the wake of his father's murder. In a victim impact statement, Rose's daughter Sona Seferian said the 'magnitude and horror' of what happened that day was 'indescribable'. She added: 'The magnitude and horror of what happened to our Mum on that day, is indescribable. Our lives became sad because of the way mum died. We have been through pessimistic periods but for the love of our mum, we shake ourselves up and try to be positive to make her proud. We all had a wonderful bond with our mum, she was a kind hearted, loving and gentle, down to earth person, who was very family orientated. We all know that no one is eternal. Death will strike at some point in life but not provoked in such a horrific and senseless way.'
Jailing Weir for life with a minimum term of 30 years today, Mrs Justice McGowan said: 'For the families, it's impossible to understand the extent of their grief but it is not difficult to understand their sense of loss and outrage. You killed their parents, they died terrified killed for items of jewellery.'
Mrs Harris added: 'My husband isn't good at showing his emotions so they stayed pent up inside him but from that day his character changed. The doctors have never found a reason for this stroke and when I mentioned the retrial to them and suggested could the stress of it have caused the stroke they said very likely. I have found it very difficult to cope with the situation and it has often ended up with myself and my husband in tears. We feel as a family totally let down and failed by the criminal justice system with failings that have occurred to enable the defendant to be acquitted of the murder on technicalities the first time. The defendant was initially convicted of murder at the first trial however because his DNA should have been destroyed as he was acquitted for a previous case. 'Tis resulted in the matter going to the court of appeal and him having his conviction overturned for murder. The Crown Prosecution Service had 14 days to appeal the decision to the house of lords but what I can only describe as incompetence as they didn't serve the papers in time resulting in the acquittal standing. My brother and Frank went to the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time who gave us an apology but the damage had already been done resulting in the effects that I have already mentioned previously.'
Weir had tied Mr Harris to a chair in his living room while he tortured his 81-year-old wife, who suffered from dementia, in the bedroom in January 1998. Estate agent Jeremy Clapich found Mr Harris on the first-floor landing on his block of flats in East Finchley, north London, bleeding from his skull, face, and groin. Weir had made off with an 18-carat gold Zenith watch which the veteran had taken from a German soldier. Weeks later, Weir murdered Rose Seferian, 82, at her flat in Kensington, west London, inflicting horrific injuries before ripping three rings from her fingers and taking money from her handbag. The jewellery, worth around £100,000, included a gold wedding ring with her husband's initials engraved on it and the date of their marriage; a diamond solitaire gold ring and a silver diamond ring. Ms Seferian managed to raise the alarm and her son found her covered in blood and 'almost unrecognisable' from her injuries. Mr Harris died in hospital on 16 June 1998 while Ms Seferian died a month after she was attacked. Prior to his death Mr Harris had been a carer to his wife. Following the attack, her health rapidly deteriorated and she died around two years later. In 2017, a palm print recovered from inside Ms Seferian's flat on a window frame where Weir broke in was finally matched to the defendant. By 2018, new DNA evidence in the Harris murder had also been obtained and the palm prints from both scenes had been matched to Weir. Weir was re-arrested on March 26, 2018 for both murders and continuously denied both offences. Weir had told his lawyers the police had planted his DNA at the scene, and he was the victim of vindictive 'fit-up'. The stolen jewellery has never been recovered an police believe Weir sold the cherished items for a few pounds to buy drugs. Weir, from Hackney, east London, denied two counts of murder but was convicted of both.
What is the double jeopardy law?
Double jeopardy is the principle that you cannot go on trial for the same crime more than once. Its purpose was designed to protect the innocent against judicial tyranny that could see them convicted arbitrarily, even after being found not guilty by a jury. In 2005, the Labour government repealed the law after a number of campaigns, which persuaded senior judges and legal figures that a more nuanced approach was needed to deal with complex cases. One of these was a campaign by the family of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993. Five suspects were charged but not convicted after an initial investigation. In 1999, a public inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson concluded that Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist. As a result he that recommended double jeopardy be repealed in murder cases where extraordinary evidence later emerges. The law came into effect in 2005, and since then retrials have been allowed in cases where 'new, compelling, reliable and substantial evidence' has comes to light.
Timeline of a killer: How murderer escaped justice for 20 years before being convicted using double jeopardy law
January 28, 1998: Weir tied Leonard Harris to a chair in his living room while he tortured his 81-year-old wife, who suffered from dementia. He robbed them both
January 31, 1998: Police found a palm print on the bedroom door but missed the match to the defendant because a comparative print was not the best quality
March 5, 1998: Weir murdered Rose Seferian, 82, at her flat in Kensington
April 1998: Ms Seferian died
June 16, 1998: Mr Harris died in hospital
June 1998: Weir was arrested for Mr Harris's murder after DNA evidence from a glove found at the scene linked him to the attack
July 1999: He was convicted of murder
May 2000: Weir was acquitted following an appeal when the Court of Appeal ruled that evidence provided by the prosecution was inadmissible. The Crown Prosecution Service had been set to overturn that decision, but then missed a deadline to appeal to the House of Lords by one day.
2017: A palm print recovered from inside Ms Seferian's flat on a window frame where Weir broke in was finally matched to the defendant
2018: New DNA evidence in the Harris murder had also been obtained and the palm prints from both scenes had been matched to Weir
March 26, 2018: Weir was re-arrested for both murders and continuously denied both offences
November 14, 2019: Weir was found guilty of both murders in double jeopardy case
December 16, 2019: Weir is jailed for life
