A fresh investigation by BBC Panorama has cast serious doubt on the conviction of Omar Benguit, who has spent 23 years behind bars for the 2002 murder of South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin in Bournemouth.
The programme presents new evidence suggesting that officers from Dorset Police may have relied on flawed testimony, ignored contradictory CCTV footage, and failed to properly investigate a potential alibi.
Case Built on Disputed Testimony
Shin, known as Oki, was stabbed to death while walking home from a nightclub in July 2002. Benguit was convicted in 2005 after two previous trials ended without verdicts.
The prosecution’s case largely depended on a drug addict witness, referred to as BB, who claimed she drove Benguit and others on the night of the murder and saw him stab the student. However, Panorama reports that CCTV checks at locations BB described, including a BP garage and a nearby crack house, failed to support her account.
Moreover, Shin’s dying statement described a single masked attacker, contradicting BB’s claim that multiple men confronted her.
Witnesses Claim Pressure
The investigation reveals that 13 witnesses have now told the BBC that police pressured them to exaggerate or fabricate statements. Two additional witnesses admitted they lied in court, while others said they refused attempts to coerce them into giving false evidence.
If substantiated, these claims undermine the credibility of nearly all key prosecution witnesses whose testimonies were central to Benguit’s conviction.
Missing CCTV and New Alibi Evidence
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is currently reviewing the case. Earlier findings revealed grainy CCTV footage of a man resembling Benguit using a phone box 25 minutes after the murder. Phone records confirm that a call was made from that phone box to Benguit’s dealer at the exact time shown on the footage.
Panorama reports that the police were aware of this potential alibi but did not thoroughly pursue it. The CCRC also discovered that 135 CCTV tapes from the original investigation are now missing.
Retired senior detective Brian Murphy has called for the Independent Office for Police Conduct to examine how the investigation was handled, stating the conviction appears unsafe.
Alternative Suspect Revisited
The programme also revisits Danilo Restivo, who lived near the crime scene at the time. Restivo was later convicted of two separate murders, one in Italy and another in England, but was ruled out in Shin’s case. Newly surfaced CCTV footage reportedly shows a cyclist resembling Restivo near the scene shortly before the attack.
Maintaining Innocence
Now 53 and drug-free, Benguit could seek parole if he admitted guilt. However, he continues to deny involvement.
“I’d rather die in prison saying I didn’t do it than get released saying I did,” he told Panorama.
Dorset Police stated that Benguit’s conviction has been upheld twice by the Court of Appeal and that any further action rests with the courts and the CCRC.
As the review continues, the case raises profound questions about investigative integrity, witness reliability, and the possibility of a wrongful conviction, while the family of Jong-Ok Shin continues to seek justice more than two decades after her death.
