Wrongly convicted man walks free after four decades in prison

US man Joseph Sledge who has spent the last forty years in prison for a crime he did not commit was freed yesterday.

Mr Sledge was sentenced to life in prison in North Carolina in 1976 for the murder of an elderly couple that took place only days after he escaped a prison work farm where he was doing time for theft.

But a key witness, whose testimony had been used to put Mr Sledge away, recanted his evidence last year, saying police promised him leniency in his own cases if he testified, and coached him on what to say.

Forensic experts told the judge that the physical evidence – fingerprints, hair, and now DNA – did not link Mr Sledge to the crime.

A three-judge panel decided that the state had made a mistake, and ordered that Mr Sledge be freed. He left the court with his siblings, and is going to Georgia to live with his brother in the short term.

When reporters asked him about his plans, Mr Sledge replied that he was looking forward to things many of us take for granted.

"Going home. Relaxing. Sleeping in a real bed. Probably get in a pool of water and swim," he said,

Mr Sledge is the eighth person to be freed in North Carolina after the establishment of the US's only state-run agency to investigate the possible innocence of convicted criminals