David Francis’s murder conviction quashed by Court of Appeal

A man who was found guilty of murder following a stabbing has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Davices Anderson, 22, died in hospital after being found injured at the junction of Huntingdon Street and Woodborough Road, Nottingham, on 28 April 2023.

David Francis was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 and a half years the following year, but the 63-year-old’s conviction has now been overturned.

However, Courtney McLeary, who was also jailed for life, had his own separate appeal dismissed.

In a judgment handed down remotely on Wednesday, the three Court of Appeal judges said Anderson – who was also known as Ricardo – died from “a single stab wound to the heart” and had also suffered other stab wounds while in McLeary’s flat, where everyone had been taking drugs.

While there was “no dispute” McLeary stabbed Anderson, his defence had been he was acting in self-defence after the deceased was behaving aggressively, while Francis had claimed he “was not involved and had effectively been acting as a peacemaker when the deceased had been threatening others in the flat”.