Brother of man stabbed to death in street fights to get gambler convicted of his murder out of jail

THE brother of a man stabbed to death in the street is campaigning to clear the name of the professional gambler jailed for life for killing him, despite him going on the run for more than seven years after the murder.

East End hardman Robert Darby, 42, was stabbed outside a pub in Gants Hill in August 2005, and died the next day in hospital.

Jason Moore, 52, (above) described as a millionaire playboy in court was found unanimously guilty of the murder at an Old Bailey trial and jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years in December 2013.

Robert's brother, Tim Darby (below at the launch), believes he is innocent.

He joined hundreds of people, including relatives of Mr Moore, to launch a campaign to "Free Jason Moore" at O'Neills in Leytonstone, east London, on Saturday night (November 26).

Speakers included author Linda Calvey, who spent 18 years in prison for a murder she says she did not commit.

She said: "There’s got to be justice for Tim’s family and for Kirstie’s family. We have got to get Jason home.”

There was also Robert "Bobby" Cummines OBE, a former gang leader, protection racketeer, armed robber, and criminal enforcer who was once chief executive of Unlock, The National Association of Reformed Offenders, and is now a campaigner against miscarriages of justice.

He said: "It is very rare you see a victim's family come to support a man who is in jail for killing their son, but the reason they are here is they know that man is innocent and they want the real killer brought to justice.

"This case should have a judicial review and the truth come out."

The family has also started a petition on Change.org, hoping to get the case debated in Parliament.

Mr Darby has teamed up with relatives of Moore to try to get the conviction overturned with a referral to the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC).

He said: "It might seem strange the brother of a murder victim working with the family of the man jailed for killing him to get him out, but it's not right for anyone to do be jailed for something they didn't do."

Mr Darby has compiled a 75-page dossier (below) on what he claims are discrepancies with evidence and failings in the police investigation.

It was made with the help of private investigation firm TM-Eye, which has a cold case review team made up of former Met Police murder and organised crime detectives, and has submitted its own 31-page report to the CCRC.

Mr Darby said: "Our family has lived on the Isle of Dogs all my life and my other brother Mickey used to own a pub in the East End.

"Between us, we know a lot of people.

"Jason Moore was just a big dandelion who would never have a tear up and would never go up against my brother, everyone knew that."

"By the time of the trial, they just wanted a body to close the case."

Mr Darby said: "I will be honest about my late brother Robert – he was a proper East End character who loved to be the centre of attention, the life and soul of every party.

"He knew a lot of people and to his many friends he was a likeable and loyal personality. His favourite catchphrase was: ‘Do You Know Who I Am?’ He used it so often, the words were spelt out in the form of a floral tribute placed on his coffin. There were so many of Robert’s friends at his funeral, they couldn’t fit everyone in the chapel. Most of them knew him as ‘Darbs’ and they came from all parts, including one who even flew in from Jamaica especially to pay his last respects.

"Me and my other brother Mickey always said that Robert wouldn’t make old bones. Just like all of us, Robert wasn’t perfect. He was no angel, that’s for sure. But he certainly didn’t deserve to die in such a violent way."

The trial was told Moore stabbed Mr Darby (above) because he was "stalking" and threatening him after he became involved with the victim's ex-girlfriend Adele Raynor, 42.

She called police after Mr Darby, from Poplar, east London, threatened her on the morning of August 24, just hours before the stabbing outside the Valentine pub.

Moore, who had a £1.4 million Canary Wharf flat at the time of the murder, told the court he took a friend, to help resolve the dispute with Darby and did not plan to use any violence.

The former friend also denies being the killer.

He also went overseas after the stabbing and was extradited back to the UK after being arrested in Malaga, Spain, a few months before the trial and charged with murder for the joint enterprise of driving Moore to the scene.

The former friend told the trial that he first approached Mr Darby, to try to calm him down, but was hit by him on the head with the blunt end of a Stanley knife, knocking him unconscious, so he did not see what happened next or the murder and he was acquitted by the jury.

Mr Darby accepts that Moore and and the friend arrived at the scene together in the latter's car.

But, he said there was no CCTV or forensic evidence that incriminated Moore.

He said in his report: "On the contrary, CCTV footage proves he was not dressed in a blue zip-up top that two eye-witnesses stated the stabber was wearing."

An associate of Darby's, who was with him at the time, was also arrested and interviewed under caution and said that he slept in Darby's car throughout the entire incident and saw nothing.

He was not charged and was a witness at the trial, although he had to be directed by the judge to attend and asked to give evidence behind a screen.

In March, 2017, Moore was granted a first appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice after a number of new witnesses came forward, but it was rejected.

Mr Darby claims discrepancies between witness accounts have since been discovered and lawyers and TM-Eye have requested further disclosures from the CPS and Met Police.

TM-Eye made 12 recommendations for disclosure of unused material and further DNA testing, including on a blue jacket found during the investigation.

Its report said: "The family of the victim Robert Darby and the family of the convicted person, make a highly unusual alliance, who seek to persuade prosecution counsel that there is an imperative for the MPS and CPS to reconsider this conviction, disclose further material and to direct further forensic testing."

TM-Eye's recommendations were rejected by the Met.

A Met Police spokesman said: "We are aware of the issues raised by the author of the report. We have reviewed the information provided to the enquiry team and will assess any new information that becomes apparent in relation to the murder of Robert Darby in 2005.

"Two men were tried for his murder in 2013, with one being found guilty and the other acquitted. This investigation remains closed, but should the circumstances change we will assess them and consider the most appropriate way to manage any developments in this investigation."

A CCRC spokeswoman said: "An application was received from Jason Moore and this case remains under review."