"I HAVE always expected him to come home. It's just good that justice has finally been done."
The relief of Wendy Hamblett was obvious as her son, Michael-Paul Hamblett-Sewell, yesterday became a free man for the first time since he was aged 19.
Now 25, Mr Hamblett-Sewell has spent the past six years of his life in jail for a crime a jury yesterday decided he did not commit.
He was jointly convicted of the 2008 murder of Derby schoolboy Kadeem Blackwood shot dead in Caxton Park, Sunny Hill.
Callum Campbell, who was 18 at the time of the murder, is serving a 21-year sentence for shooting Kadeem.
But Hamblett-Sewell always denied any involvement, rejecting prosecutors' claims that he had ordered Kadeem's shooting after feeling his mother had been disrespected by the teenager.
He was convicted at the original trial which was held after Campbell pleaded guilty.
The original trial heard Kadeem had gone to the park after arranging a fight with rival gang member Campbell.
A1 Crew gang member Campbell admitted shooting Kadeem, who was affiliated to the Younger Browning Circle Terrorists gang.
In 2009 he was sentenced and told he would serve a minimum of 21 years behind bars.
Mr Hamblett-Sewell was accused of being a senior member of the A1 gang and knowing the sawn-off shotgun held by Campbell, stood by his side, would or might be used on Kadeem that night.
A witness claimed there had been bad feeling between Mr Hamblett-Sewell and Kadeem because the schoolboy had disrespected Mr Hamblett-Sewell's mother.
The witness also claimed Mr Hamblett-Sewell was a "general" in the A1 gang.
Mr Hamblett-Sewell was convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 23 years.
But the witness later said on Facebook that he had lied in court.
Mr Hamblett-Sewell's solicitors went to the Court of Appeal with this new information and his conviction was overturned.
That led to the retrial, and then a second retrial, both at Nottingham Crown Court.
Following the jury's verdict yesterday, Mr Hamblett-Sewell's lawyer, Jonathan Greenhill, of CJH Solicitors in Derby, said: "These are six years of his life he cannot get back. He's had a long hard battle to clear his name.
"I felt he should have been found not guilty in 2009. It's a case I have spent a lot of time on. I have always believed in his innocence and I'm delighted by the verdict today."
In court when the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict, gasps of relief and sobs could be heard from the public gallery.
Mrs Hamblett said outside the court as her son was released from custody: "He's very relieved, as you can see. He doesn't show his emotions and that's probably what got him there in the first place.
"I'm so excited about it. He should never have been there in the first place.
"At the end of the day a young lad lost his life." But she said that had been no fault of her son and that he had tried to stop the shooting.
She said she thought the joint enterprise system, under which a defendant can be convicted of an offence by association, was "a joke".
She said they would try to claim for compensation but she held little hope they would be successful.
She said: "There's been bigger cases, such as Barry George (accused of Jill Dando's murder), who was inside for nine years and they have said he doesn't fit the criteria, so I don't have much hope, but we will try."
Father Michael Sewell said: "Justice has finally been done. I feel over the moon – it's really hard to explain, it's got to sink in first. The jury came back so quickly, which makes us feel that they knew he was not guilty from a few days into the trial.
"We have sympathy for Kadeem's mum – at the end of the day she's lost a 15-year-old boy and the police haven't done her any favours as she has had to go through all this over the last six years."
Last night, police released a statement which said: "During the initial investigation into Kadeem's death, the police gathered together a vast amount of information which was put forward to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration in the prosecution of the case.
"Most of that evidence has now been heard again and the jury has found Michael-Paul Hamblett-Sewell not guilty.
"Callum Campbell who pleaded guilty to Kadeem's murder remains in prison serving a 21-year sentence.
"The police in Derby have worked closely with the city council, Enthusiasm and other local agencies to tackle gang culture in the city."
