After spending 23 years behind bars for a crime he may not have committed, Omar Benguit’s case is taking a new turn as fresh evidence suggests he might have been wrongfully convicted. Benguit, now 53, was found guilty in 2005 for the murder of Jong-Ok Shin, a Korean student who was fatally stabbed on her way home from a nightclub in Bournemouth.

The conviction hinged primarily on witness testimonies, as there was an absence of CCTV footage and forensic evidence. Remarkably, it took three trials for a jury to reach a verdict, with two earlier attempts ending without a decision. Now, in a surprising development, 13 witnesses have come forward to the BBC, claiming they were coerced by the police into exaggerating their testimonies and lying in court.

This startling revelation raises questions about the integrity of the investigation conducted by Dorset Police. At the time, there was immense pressure on the police to solve the case swiftly, given the importance of international students to Bournemouth’s community and economy.

The prosecution’s case notably relied on the account of a witness known as BB, a drug addict whose credibility was already in question due to a history of dishonesty. This reliance on such a witness, coupled with the new allegations of police misconduct, casts doubt on the fairness of Benguit’s conviction and suggests a potential miscarriage of justice.

It is understood that Dorset Police were put under significant pressure to bring justice following Shin’s murder due to Bournemouth’s reliance on international students. 

They built their case heavily on the testimony of a drug addict, named only as BB for legal reasons, who was described as a ‘proven liar’. 

BB claimed that she had been driving three people including Benguit on the night of July 12, 2002, when she stopped the car beside the student who later died. 

She said that the three males got out to talk to and invite Shin to a party and, when she refused, Benguit stabbed her to death.

Korean student Jong-Ok Shin was fatally stabbed on July 12, 2002, at Malemsbury Park Road, Bournemouth

Omar Benguit, now 53, was convicted of her murder in 2005 and has spent 23 years in prison

But the witness had a history of making false claims and her account directly contradicted Shin’s dying words, according to the publication. The Korean claimed she was stabbed by a single, masked attacker.

BB changed her story multiple times during the investigation and did not accuse Benguit of the murder until her third statement to the police.

She claimed that, after the killing, she had driven the three men to a crack house around a mile away. However, CCTV footage outside the house did not capture them entering. 

Two other witnesses used in the trial have also admitted to lying either in their police statements or in court. 

One of them, named Leanne, claims that her statement was ‘their (police’s) words, 95 per cent of it’, while five drug addicts at the crack house denied seeing BB or the men there.

When those addicts were interviewed almost half a year later, all five changed their stories and admitted to seeing Benguit following the stabbing. 

Andi Miller meanwhile claims that he was ‘pressured into saying something’ by Dorset Police after they had learned from BB about alleged thefts which he had committed. 

Benguit, who was an addict at the time of the killing and had a history of knife crime, has always maintained his innocence. 

Benguit, who was a drug addict and had a history of knife crime, has always maintained his innocence

CCTV footage from the night of the attack shows, who the BBC thinks is, Benguit at a phone box about 25 minutes from the murder, meaning he could not have been at a crack house as one witness claimed

He has spent 23 years in prison and is now eligible for parole if he admits murdering Shin. But he told the BBC this week that he has no intention of confessing to a crime, he says, he did not commit. 

‘I’d rather die in prison saying I didn’t do it than get released now saying that I did do it,’ Benguit said. ‘It’s not going to happen. I’m an innocent man. Why should I lie just to get out?’

Benguit has appealed his conviction twice and, both times, saw his claims dismissed by the Court of Appeal. 

The case is currently being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after new CCTV evidence came to light in 2021. 

The grainy footage showed a man who looked similar to Benguit walking out of a phone box on Charminster Road about 25 minutes from the murder. 

If the footage is of the convicted man, then it means BB’s testimony was false and Benguit cannot have been at the crack house. 

Meanwhile documents have revealed that a call was made to Benguit’s dealer at the exact same time that the man was spotted at the phone box. 

Other CCTV footage from the night of the crime also shows a man riding a bike just moments away from the murder scene about 10 minutes before Shin was attacked.

The publication speculates that the cyclist is Danilo Restivo, who was later convicted of two murders and lived just three streets away from the spot where Shin was stabbed.

Restivo was initially a suspect in the case but was eventually discounted after his girlfriend gave him an alibi and the killing was deemed different from his other crimes. 

Just four months after Shin’s death, Restivo killed his neighbour Heather Barnett in a brutal attack. Nine years on from that, he was convicted of both her murder and the killing of 16-year-old Elisa Claps in Italy. 

Danilo Restivo lived three streets away from the murder and is speculated to have been a cyclist captured on CCTV footage near the crime

Just four months after Shin’s death, Restivo killed his neighbour Heather Barnett in a brutal attack

Criminologist Barry Loveday, who has been researching the case for two decades, said Dorset Police have questions to answer. 

‘The police were highly selective in the way they collected evidence,’ he said. ‘In my opinion, Omar was framed. This was a quite elaborate frame-up.’

A statement issued by Dorset Police read: ‘Our investigation into Oki’s murder was thorough, detailed and very complex.

‘We submitted our evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which considered there to be sufficient evidence to charge Omar Benguit with Oki’s murder and proceeded with the prosecution.

‘Omar Benguit was unanimously convicted in January 2005 by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of Jong-Ok Shin. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

‘Benguit appealed against his conviction, but this appeal was dismissed in July 2005 by judges at the Court of Appeal.

‘The case was reviewed by the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) and referred to the Court of Appeal for a second time on the basis of the reliability of a prosecution witness and the suggestion of a possible alternative suspect. The appeal was dismissed in April 2014.’

A CCRC spokesperson added: ‘Mr Benguit first applied to the CCRC in May 2010. Following a review, the CCRC referred the conviction in December 2012.

‘The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2014.

‘A second application has been received and a review into this application is ongoing.

‘It would be inappropriate for us to discuss the case or make any further comment while the application is being reviewed.’