THE FAMILY of a convicted murderer yesterday criticised police after it emerged paperwork they had requested in a bid to clear his name had been supplied but most of the material blacked out.

Laurence Cawley

THE FAMILY of a convicted murderer yesterday criticised police after it emerged paperwork they had requested in a bid to clear his name had been supplied but most of the material blacked out.

Kevin Nunn is currently serving a 22-year jail sentence for the murder of Dawn Walker, whose semi-naked body was found burned beside the River Lark, near Bury St Edmunds, in 2005.

Since that time, Nunn's family has sought to clear his name. Late last year, Nunn's sister Brigitte Butcher asked Suffolk police for material relating to the conviction which was not shown to the court during his trial in 2006.

By law, the force was meant to comply with the request within 40 days. But because of the complex nature of Mrs Butcher's request, it has been allowed longer by the Information Commissioner's Office.

Almost a year later, Mrs Butcher has received a bundle of documents from the police. However, some of the documents sent have either been largely blacked out or were items she already had.

The police, who admit the request has taken longer than allowed by law, last night claimed it had complied with the request.

But Mrs Butcher is now considering taking legal action against the constabulary on the issue.

“It is an outrage,” Mrs Butcher said last night. “It is beyond a joke. They are not supplying the things I have requested. The thing is, the information is there and it is unused and we think we are entitled to it. I would like to see this material. I want to find out why they don't want us to have this material.”

She said one of the documents was a statement from somebody which has been largely blanked out. “Because of what is missing from it, I can't really work out what it is,” said Mrs Butcher.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said: “We acknowledge that this request took longer than the statutory period to respond to, this is due to the nature and complexity of the requested information.

“We sought and received guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office whilst compiling our response. A response to the request has now been issued in compliance with legislation relevant to each piece of data held.”