Omar Benguit was found unanimously guilty of the murder of Jong-Ok Shin in 2005. Benguit, now aged in his late 40s, has had two appeals against his conviction dismissed by the Court of Appeal. But now an investigation which aired yesterday in a BBC Three show claims to have found new evidence that could provide him with an alibi for the Bournemouth crime. In the programme, Unsolved: An Alibi for Omar?, journalist Bronagh Munro also says several prosecution witnesses claim police pressured them to tell lies about Benguit. A fresh application has now been made with the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) for a new appeal, reportedly based on the evidence covered in the show.
Omar Benguit has now spent more than 16 years behind bars for her murder. Benguit faced three trials before he was finally convicted by a jury at Winchester Crown Court in January 2005. He has always maintained his innocence. Two attempts to challenge his conviction were dismissed by Court of Appeal judges, in 2005 and 2014, respectively. Now, as a new BBC Three television show,
Unsolved: An Alibi for Omar?, airs, it has been confirmed that efforts to launch a third appeal have been started.
STABBED IN THE STREET Jong-Ok Shin, 26, known to her friends as Oki, was stabbed three times while walking home in Charminster from a night out on July 12.
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He s spent almost 20 years in prison for murder - but could new evidence give Omar an alibi?
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He s spent almost 20 years in prison for murder - but could new evidence give Omar an alibi?
Despite spending almost 20 years in jail, Omar Benguit has always said he s not guilty of murder. Could new evidence provide him with an alibi?
Bronagh Munro
From the moment he was arrested in August 2002 in connection with a young woman’s murder, Omar Benguit has protested his innocence.
At first glance, the case against him looked cut and dried. A large number of witnesses testified against him. Omar was a drug addict with 60 criminal convictions, including one for stabbing another man. At his trial, the main prosecution witness told the jury she’d driven him, covered in blood, to a crack house, after the murder of South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin, known as Oki. Omar was said to have stabbed her as she walked home alone on a Bournemouth street, after she refused to come
South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin, 26, known as Oki, was stabbed to death in 2002
A man jailed for nearly 20 years for a murder he says he did not commit hopes that new CCTV footage discovered by a BBC investigation will give him an alibi and clear his name.
South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin, 26, known as Oki, was stabbed to death in the street while walking home from a night out in Bournemouth in 2002.
Omar Benguit, 48, a heroin addict and petty crook, was tried three times for the killing and finally convicted in 2005 after a key prosecution witness, a prostitute and heroin addict known as BB, claimed that she had witnessed the murder.