Police framed man for female student’s murder, evidence gathered by BBC suggests

A major BBC Panorama investigation, broadcast on Monday 16 February 2026, has uncovered compelling new evidence suggesting that Omar Benguit was framed for a murder he has spent 23 years in prison for.

Benguit was convicted in 2005 for the fatal stabbing of South Korean student Jong-Ok Shin (known as Oki) in Bournemouth in 2002. He has always maintained his innocence, and the new findings have led to calls for an immediate independent review of Dorset Police’s conduct.

⚠️ Allegations of Manufactured Evidence

The investigation claims that Dorset Police "buried" evidence and coerced vulnerable witnesses into providing false testimony to secure a conviction.

• Coerced Witnesses: A total of 15 prosecution witnesses have now had their testimony undermined. Thirteen of them told the BBC they were pressured, threatened, or blackmailed by police to lie or embellish their accounts.

• The "BP Garage" CCTV: The main witness, known as "BB," claimed she drove Benguit to a garage and then a crack house on the night of the murder. Panorama revealed that police had CCTV from both locations that failed to show BB or Benguit, yet this contradiction was never disclosed to the defence.

• The "Crack House" Liars: Several witnesses who claimed they saw Benguit covered in blood at a crack house have now admitted they were "coerced" into lying. One witness, Andi Miller, stated police used his own criminal history to force him into a false statement.

   

📂 The "Buried" Alibi

New evidence suggests Benguit had a solid alibi that police allegedly ignored:

• The Phone Box Video: Grainy CCTV from the night of the murder shows a man resembling Benguit using a phone box on Charminster Road—a location that would have made it impossible for him to be at the crack house at the time witness "BB" claimed.

   

• Phone Records: For the first time, phone records have been uncovered that show a call was made from that exact phone box to Benguit’s drug dealer at the precise moment the man was caught on camera.

   

• Selective Evidence: Criminologists and legal experts suggest police were aware of this alibi at the time but "buried it" to protect their case against Benguit.

   

⚖️ The Alternative Suspect: Danilo Restivo

The investigation also highlighted the failure to properly investigate Danilo Restivo, a convicted double murderer who lived just three streets away from where Oki was killed.

• The "Masked Man": Oki’s dying testimony described being stabbed by a single masked man, which matches Restivo’s known modus operandi but contradicts the prosecution’s theory that Benguit and two others were involved.

   

• CCTV of Restivo: Panorama found grainy footage of a man on a bicycle—resembling Restivo—riding near the murder scene just ten minutes before the attack. Despite Restivo’s history of ritualistic killings, he was dismissed as a suspect early in the Oki investigation.

🏛️ What Happens Next?

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is currently assessing a second application for Benguit’s case to be referred back to the Court of Appeal.

Dorset Police have not directly addressed the "framing" allegations but stated their original investigation was "thorough, detailed, and very complex." They have indicated they would follow the direction of the courts or the CCRC if a new investigation is ordered.