A Vancouver man who has spent the last 26 years in prison for a series of rapes he claims he didn’t commit was granted an appeal yesterday to have his case reopened.
Henry, now 62, was convicted of three counts of rape and seven other sex-related offences following attacks on eight women in Vancouver in 1982.
He was declared a dangerous offender and ordered imprisoned indefinitely, but always maintained his innocence.
Yesterday, the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed to reopen Henry’s case after a review by a special prosecutor last year found he might not have had a fair trial.
Henry’s lawyer, David Layton, said police investigating the Robert Pickton case in 2002 came across information that suggested another man may have been responsible for the attacks.
Layton added that some of the witness statements given to police didn’t match the statements they made on the stand.
He also argued that Henry’s decision to represent himself in his 1983 trial did him more harm than good.
Henry’s wife died in 1990. He has two grown daughters and grandchildren.
