New Zealand court quashes murder conviction of man imprisoned for 19 years

Chief justice says it is clear that justice had seriously miscarried in case of Alan Hall, who was convicted of murder of Arthur Easton in 1985

A New Zealand man who spent 19 years in prison for murder has had his conviction quashed after the supreme court found there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice when key evidence was not disclosed in the original trial - something the crown itself acknowledged was wrong.

Alan Hall, who has autism, was convicted at age 23 of the murder of Arthur Easton in his Papakura home in 1985. Easton had been stabbed by an intruder and the murder weapon - a bayonet - and a woollen hat were found at the scene.