It's been a long wait

Ray Downing Father

Asked how he was going to celebrate, the shy 45-year-old said he did not know.

Clearly delighted, he hugged his aging parents as he was released from cells for a last time.

His father, Ray, 67, said: "I'm just overwhelmed. It's been a long wait."

Mr Downing stopped on the steps of the High Court to thank his supporters, in particular Don Hale, the former editor of the Matlock Mercury newspaper who has campaigned for his release for more than six years.

Survival mechanism

Mr Hale said: "I am very pleased with the way things have gone. We have got his conviction overturned."

He went on to call for the case of typist Wendy Sewell who was bludgeoned to death in a churchyard in Bakewell, Derbyshire, where Mr Downing worked as a cemetery attendant, to be re-opened.

Derbyshire Police issued a brief statement saying that they would wait to review the High Court judges' report before deciding whether to re-open the case and apply modern-day techniques such as DNA sequencing to evidence.

Mr Downing has spoken of his unwavering belief in his own innocence that kept him going over the years, while he said not blaming the police was a "survival mechanism".