A man wrongly jailed for 17 years for rape says it was “too little too late” after receiving an apology from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

Andrew Malkinson was imprisoned in 2003 but was eventually released in December 2020.

His charges were dropped last year after new DNA evidence potentially linked another man to the crime.

The CCRC has now issued an unreserved apology to Mr Malkinson following an independent review by Chris Henley KC into the handling of the case.

But responding to the apology, Malkinson said the apology from CCRC chair Helen Pitcher OBE came just as he was acquitted last summer.

Mr Malkinson said: “The CCRC’s delay in apologizing to me has contributed significantly to the mental turmoil I am experiencing as I continue to be held accountable for what has been done to me.”

“The CCRC’s mistakes have caused me immense pain. Even the police apologized immediately. It feels like Helen Pitcher is only apologizing now because the CCRC has been discovered and the last escape route has now been closed to them.”

He said his lawyers wrote to Ms Pitcher last September demanding an apology but she refused.

He added: “For so long it’s been hard for me to see the sincerity of an apology – when you’re truly sorry for something you’ve done, you have an immediate, instinctive reaction and it just flows through you. ”

Earlier on Thursday, Ms Pitcher issued a statement, saying: “Mr Henry’s report is sobering and it is clear from his findings that the commission failed Andrew Malkinson.” I am deeply sorry. I have written to Mr Malkinson to advise him. “On behalf of the committee I would like to express my sincere regret and apologize unreservedly.

Addressing her view that she was unwilling to apologize, Ms Pitcher added: “For me, a sincere apology requires a clear understanding of the circumstances in which the committee failed Mr Malkinson. We have now done that.”

“No one could have imagined the devastating impact Mr Malkinson’s wrongful conviction would have on his life, and I can only apologize for the additional harm caused to him by our handling of his case.”

Mr Malkinson applied for the CCRC to review his case in 2009, but at the end of the review in 2012 the committee refused to order further forensic testing or refer the case to appeal due to concerns about cost.

In 2020, the second application was rejected.

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The key DNA evidence has been around since 2007, but no match was found in police databases at the time.

Since Mr Malkinson’s conviction was quashed, dozens of rape and murder convictions from before 2016 will be accepted Fresh DNA testing to identify potential miscarriages of justice.

The CCRC said it had re-examined nearly 5,500 cases it had previously rejected due to improvements in DNA analysis technology.

Preliminary investigations last summer found that about a quarter of the cases were in which the identity of the perpetrator was questioned.

Addressing these concerns, it said there were likely dozens of cases where DNA samples could be retested using DNA 17 technology, first introduced in 2014.