Jonathan was wrongly convicted of the murder of Harry and Megan Tooze. They were shot dead in their farmhouse in Llanharry in July 1993. His then girlfriend, Cheryl, believed him innocent and helped to prove it – they have since married.
A weak circumstantial case resulted in conviction by majority verdict after a 55-day trial at Newport Crown Court in 1994. Jones was represented by fellow FIP supporter Stuart Hutton, who played an important part in ensuring that his conviction was quashed on appeal.
Unusually, the trial judge, the late Mr Justice (Sir Richard) Rougier, wrote to Jones’ QC, John Charles Rees, expressing his concern that the jury had got it wrong. The letter was made public and Jonathan’s convictions were quashed on appeal in April 1996.
His was the second miscarriage of justice case reviewed by the Major Crime Review Unit, which was established in May 1999. It was later re-opened, but to date it has not been resolved by the arrest and conviction of the real perpetrator.