World’s longest-serving death row inmate found not guilty 56 years after being sentenced

The world's longest serving death row inmate has been found not guilty 56 years after his original sentencing.

Back in 1968, Iwao Hakamada was found guilty of killing his work boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children.

The murders took place in 1966 after the family's home was set alight in central Japan.

Maintaining his innocence the whole time, the former boxer has spent years campaigning for a retrial.

It took 27 years for the top court to deny his first appeal for retrial, while his second appeal was filed in 2008 by his sister, Hideko Hakamada, now 91.

Iwao Hakamada was the longest serving death row inmate (Getty/KAZUHIRO NOGI)

Hakamada actually hasn't been behind bars since 2014 after a court ordered a retrial as new evidence suggested his conviction may have been based on fabricated accusations by investigators.

While he was not acquitted, Hakamada was able to serve his sentence at home because of ill health and law enforcement concluding his age meant he was low risk for escape.

Even in May, prosecutors asked for the death penalty to be enforced, which led to critics questioning whether the system needed reform.

But on Thursday (26 September), Hakamada was acquitted after a court found him not guilty of the charges.

'The court finds the defendant innocent," judge Koshi Kunii said.

His sister, Hideko Hakamada, has spent half of her life trying to prove her sibling's innocence.

Before Thursday's ruling, she said she was in a never-ending battle.

The death row inmate has now been found not guilty (Getty/KAZUHIRO NOGI)

She told reporters in Tokyo: “It is so difficult to get a retrial started. Not just Iwao, but I’m sure there are other people who have been wrongly accused and crying."

A major point of discussion was blood-stained clothing that investigators claimed Hakamada wore during the crime and hid in a tank of fermented soybean paste.

However, defence lawyers and earlier retrial decisions said the blood samples did not match Hakamada’s DNA.

Meanwhile, trousers that prosecutors submitted as evidence were said to be too small for Hakamada and did not fit when he tried them on.

Japan remains one of two countries in the Group of Seven advanced nations that retain capital punishment.