"After 13 Years Behind Bars, My Brother's Fate Changed When a Drunk Witness Admitted Mistake"

LEAVING the Old Bailey after her brother, Jason Moore, had just been convicted of murder, Kirstie was startled as a car pulled up next to her.

“This big, bald-headed guy got out and approached me,” she says. “It was the man I had been living in fear of for years.”

Jason Moore was jailed for life for the murder of Robert Darby, but both men’s families say Moore did not do it Credit: Family Handout Robert Darby was stabbed to death in Ilford in 2005 Credit: justice4darbs.com

Jason had just been given a life sentence for the fatal stabbing of Robert Darby.

Now, Robert’s burly older brother Tim, leaned over at Kirstie and uttered the chilling words, “We need to talk.”

Things got even scarier when he said, “Look, this has to be sorted,” but, to her amazement, he added, “There’s no way your brother has done this. I know 100 per cent he didn’t do it. They’ve put the wrong geezer away. I don’t feel that justice has been done here today.”

The documentary, Accused: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? takes a look at the circumstances surrounding the incident that has seen Jason Moore spend 13 years in , continuing to plead his innocence.

Kirstie shared her brother’s story in a new Channel 4 documentary Credit: Candour A ‘free Jason Moore demonstration’ took place at Downing street Credit: Alamy

Robert had been a volatile man, feared in Ilford East London for his hair-trigger temper.

He would fly into jealous rages, particularly after taking , over Jason’s relationship with his girlfriend, Adele Rayner. Jason would explain that there was nothing more than passing friendship between them and Robert would eventually calm down and apologise. But this time there was a confrontation that led to his death.

After telling his family that he had seen Robert bleeding but that he had not attacked him, Jason made the decision to flee the country, saying that he feared reprisals from Robert and his family.

also advised the Moore family to take evasive action.

It wasn’t until seven years later when he returned from exile in , that Jason was eventually found guilty on the evidence of an eye witness who said he saw him getting out of a car, wearing a blue jacket, at the scene of the .

The doumentary explores how Jason’s family has endured one setback after another in their campaign to appeal his conviction.

“He would bet hundreds of pounds on dog racing and won his first million on an accumulator bet.

“He lived in Canary Wharf – this new, shining place which was buzzing – and he would fly to different parts of the world.

“Everything was party-party back then – travel, food and wine. And that sums him up.”

Jason’s best friend, Sanda Dumont, remembers Robert Darby flaring up over what he perceived was Jason’s overly-friendly relationship with Adele.

She says: “He would be one day fixated and the nest day completely apologetic and Jason would say, ‘That’s okay.’ Jason was a gentle giant. I’ve never seen violence in him.”

Jason Moore was found guilty on the evidence of an eye witness who said he saw Credit: Metropolitan Police Jason’s sister Kirsty and Robert’s brother, Tim, came together to show support for Jason Credit: Alamy

Quite what happened on that fateful day of 24 August, 2005, is uncertain. Nobody’s account of what took place quite adds up or combines.

Mark Bowen, Jason’s defence solicitor says, “There is no evidence about how the meeting came about on Perth Road.”

Kirstie recalls, “It was a rainy day. Jason didn’t want to leave his flat but he had been promising that he would go and have this game of racquetball at the sports centre with a friend of his.”

His friend was driving them both there in his silver BMW when he took a call from his girlfriend who said that Robert Darby had been in her bar (The Valentine pub, on Perth Road, Ilford), harassing one of her staff, Adele Rayner, and saying he wanted to speak to Jason.

“On the strength of that phone call, they turned the car around and headed for the pub,” says Kirstie.

From here on, the sequence of events differs, according to who is asked. Jason’s account is that Robert Darby was already there when they arrived, in a black BMW with a friend. He then saw Robert get out of the car holding a Stanley knife.

Jason claims he remained in his vehicle but his friend got out and an altercation took place. They struggled and Jason says he got out of the car to intervene but as he was getting out, claiming Robert Darby started to run off into the pub car park.

Jason says they saw blood spreading across Robert’s white shirt and decided to get back in the car and his friend then drove off.

“Robert’s friend said he saw nothing because he was asleep in the vehicle,” says Mark. “And Jason’s friend’s account was that he was hit over the head and was unconscious and when he came too, he was being ushered into the car by Jason and they drove away.”

As word of what had happened spread, Kirstie and her family were concerned and frightened.

“We knew that Robert Darby had been taken to hospital,” she says. “There was fear of him or his family and friends retaliating.”

Jason headed to a nearby pub where he phoned Sandra and asked her to pack him a bag and bring it to him. After she did that, he took off for where he stayed for a while before going on to Spain. His friend also left the country.

“I don’t think anybody knew that Robert Darby had been injured in the way that he was,” says Kirstie.

He died in hospital the following day from a fatal stab wound to his heart.

The only physical evidence found at the scene was the Stanley knife, covered in Robert Darby’s blood.

There was no CCTV in the area so police had to rely on the eyewitness account of Abdul Ahmed, who told them he saw a man with a knife, who had short, cropped hair and was wearing a blue jacket, get out of the passenger side of a silver car.

At a photo ID parade, Abdul did not pick out either Jason or his friend. Instead, he chose a different, innocent man.

With no other evidence for a prosecution available, the case was effectively dead until Jason returned, after seven years in October 2012 and gave police his full account of what had happened.

“He just wanted to just come back to the UK, help the police with their enquiries and get on with his life,” says Kirstie.

But what he said, was to give him life behind bars.

When Jason said that he had been in the passenger seat of the car that triggered a surprise second ID photo parade. This time, Abdul Ahmed picked him out.

Jason’s friend, the car driver, was extradited to the UK and the pair were charged with joint enterprise murder.

At the trial on 19 November, 2013, the prosecution presented the motive for murder as being a love triangle.

“If this was a love triangle and you had killed someone for a girl, wouldn’t you be in touch with that girl?” asks Sandra. “They didn’t see each other.”

Jason said he never saw a knife or a stabbing. When asked by the prosecution if he had been wearing a blue top, he said that he might have done.

“How can he remember what he was wearing years ago?” asks Tim Darby. “Who can remember what they were wearing last week?”

Jason’s co-defendant was found not guilty but Jason was convicted and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years.

An appeal against his conviction, focussing on the reliability of the witness testimony, was lodged in 2015 and took place two years later. But it was rejected. The only course then remaining was through the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

An application for wrongful conviction was made based on CCTV footage of Jason on the day of the murder, before and after the incident, wearing a grey Adidas sweatshirt, not a blue jacket. But the CCRC rejected it on 16 December 2021.

Charles Thomson, a Newsquest investigative journalist who had been closely following the case, then lent a helping hand. He tracked down Abdul Ahmed and phoned him and asked him about what he had seen.

He replied: “It was the blink of the eye. I was passing by. How can you remember things like that? And I was drunk.”

Charles asked if he had told that to police and he replied, “Yeah. I told them I’d had two cans of beer.”

Asked if he believed that he had picked out the right person, Abdul replied, “No. I don’t know.”

“The phone recording of the prosecution’s star witness was submitted to the CCRC in November 2023,” says Charles.

In May 2026, the CCRC informed Jason Moore’s family that the final stage of review was nearing completion, with a decision on his case expected in August 2026.

Meanwhile, Jason has been waiting behind bars for 13 years. He has five more years before he is eligible for parole but, as he maintains his innocence, his chances of being released on parole are less likely.

“Jason Moore is not someone who likes a row,” says Tim Darby. “He wouldn’t have gone up against Robert. He would have wanted to walk away from it.

“If Robert had a problem, you knew about it. But if you needed help, he would be there for you. He was your best mate or your worst enemy.

“But, at the end of the day, families of murder victims should have some kind of justice. And we’ve been waiting for that for 20 years.”

The Accused: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Unreliable Witness, airs on Channel 4 on Thursday at 10pm