I want to free my brother’s ‘killer’
THE brother of a man stabbed to death in the street is campaigning to clear the name of the professional gambler jailed for life for killing him.
Robert Darby, 42, was stabbed outside a pub in August 2005 and died the next day in hospital. Jason Moore, 51, described as a millionaire playboy in court, was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey and jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years in 2013.
He had gone on the run for seven years after Robert’s death. But Robert’s brother Tim believes the wrong man was jailed and the killer is walking free.
He has teamed up with relatives of Moore to try to get the conviction overturned by referring it to the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC).
He said: “It might seem strange the brother of a murder victim working with the family of the man jailed for killing him but it’s not right for anyone to be jailed for something they didn’t do. To get the real killer convicted we have to get Jason Moore acquitted.”
Tim has compiled a 75-page dossier on what he claims are discrepancies with evidence and failings in the police investigation. It was made with the help of private investigation firm TM-EYE, which has a cold case review team made up of former Met Police detectives, and has submitted its own report to the CCRC.
Tim said: “Our family has lived on the Isle of Dogs, in East London, all my life and my other brother Mickey used to own a pub in the East End.
“Between us, we know a lot of people and we were receiving many phone calls.within four hours of Robert being stabbed, it came back to us who did it – and it wasn’t Jason Moore.
“He was just a big dandelion who would never have a tear up and would never go up against my brother, everyone knew that.
“The same person was the main suspect for the police but then the investigation team changed a few times. By the time of the trial, they just wanted to close the case.” The trial was told Moore stabbed Robert outside the Valentine pub in Gants Hill because he was “stalking” and threatening him after he became involved with the victim’s exgirlfriend Adele Raynor, 43.
Moore, who had a £1.4million Canary Wharf flat at the time, told the court he took a friend to help resolve the dispute with Darby and did not plan to use any violence.
In 2017, he was granted a first appeal but it was rejected.
The Met Police said: “This investigation remains closed but should the circumstances change we will assess them and consider the most appropriate way to manage any developments.”
A CCRC spokeswoman said: “This case remains under review.”