A NORTH-EAST man who spent almost three decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit has died.

Sean Hodgson has died from emphysema, three years after his release from prison.

The 61-year-old, originally from Tow Law, in County Durham, was jailed for the 1979 rape and murder of barmaid Teresa De Simone, 22, in Southampton.

His conviction was quashed in 2009 after advances in forensic science showed he was innocent and another man, now dead, was the likely killer.

Following his release after 27 years he lived in Willington then Cockfield, County Durham.

Mr Hodgson was one of the UK's longest serving miscarriage of justice victims and though he received substantial compensation his solicitor, Julian Young, said he had found life difficult after spending so long in prison.