8th September 2025
A shocking miscarriage of justice has come to light in Stockport, after it emerged that an innocent man was repeatedly arrested due to a serious error in a restraining order.
Michael Stewart Parnell, who tragically died aged just 58, was the subject of a criminal antisocial behaviour order which incorrectly listed “Ponsonby House” – a building that no longer existed – as a restricted area. The building had been demolished and replaced with the £12 million Fred Perry House.
Despite the change being clearly acknowledged in correspondence between the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts, Mr Parnell was still arrested for entering Fred Perry House.
Campaigners, including local residents, raised the matter directly with then Stockport Council Leader Dave Goddard – now Lord Goddard – and other Liberal Democrat executive councillors. Yet no action was taken to stop the repeated arrests.
Following Mr Parnell’s death, Greater Manchester Police admitted that he had been completely innocent all along.
A CPS letter from 2011, signed by paralegal officer John Derbyshire, confirms the restraining order was worded incorrectly and specifically states that Ponsonby House had already been renamed Fred Perry House at the time. Despite this, the order was never properly corrected.
This tragic case raises serious questions about accountability in both the justice system and local government. Residents are now demanding answers as to how such a costly and damaging error was allowed to continue unchecked, and why no safeguards were in place to prevent the wrongful criminalisation of an innocent man.
