Wrongly convicted woman dies at 51
AMOTHER who battled for 10 years to clear her name after being wrongly convicted of murdering a woman and her two daughters has died.
Annette Hewins, 51, of Merthyr Tydfil, served 18-months of a 13 year sentence for arson with intent to endanger life following the death of 21-year-old Diane Jones and her daughters Shauna, two, and SarahJane, 13 months.
All three died in a horrific fire at their home on the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil in October 1995.
Mother-of-five Mrs Hewins was released from prison in 1999 on appeal and her conviction was quashed, with South Wales Police accepting in 2006 that she never played a part in the death of Diane Jones and her two daughters.
A pre-inquest hearing was held at Aberdare Coroners’ Court on Thursday into the death of Mrs Hewins, who passed away at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant on February 8 this year.
Coroner Andrew Barkely said Mrs Hewins was admitted to the mental health unit at the hospital on February 7 and was suffering from an “episode”.
She was found unresponsive on February 8 and despite attempts to revive her, died shortly after.
Mr Barkely said: “The position is the inquest touching on Mrs Hewins’ death has to take place as at the time of her death she was subject to section two of the Mental Health Act.
“Also, the case of her death is said to be unnatural so there needs to be an inquest with a jury.”
The court heard that a pathologist gave the cause of Mrs Hewins’ death to be “heroin toxicity”, but this has been disputed by the deceased’s son and daughter who were present in court.
Mr Barkley adjourned the hearing which is expected to resume during the first week of August this year.
In 2006, a statement from South Wales Police was read out in court acknowledging that Mrs Hewin played no parts in the death of Diane Jones and her daughters.
It read: “Having carefully considered the evidence from an extremely thorough police investigation and subsequent criminal proceedings, the Chief Constable accepted that Annette Hewins was not involved in the arson attack that killed Dianne Jones and her two children, or the subsequent intimidation of a prosecution witness.
“The Chief Constable recognises that Annette Hewins suffered greatly as a result of the charges she faced and, as with any case where a person was wrongfully convicted, she regrets the distress caused to Annette Hewins.”
Mrs Hewins brought a civil case against South Wales Police accusing them of malicious prosecution in their investigation, but this was later dropped.
Speaking in 2006 to WalesOnline, Mrs Hewins said: ‘To me, that is worth more than anything because it proved that I’m innocent without any doubt at all.
“I’m exonerated and my children will always have that. The public now know there is no question over me at all and that is the one thing I have waited so long for.’
She added: “If there had been a choice between £20m and the police publicly announcing that I was innocent, I would have taken the announcement. All I want now is to have my life back.”