David Dougherty was convicted for the rape and abduction of an 11 year old girl in 1993. But he wasn't guilty of the crime. Donna Chisholm was the journalist at the centre of the campaign to free him and have him compensated.

In 1993, David Dougherty was convicted of abducting and raping an 11-year-old girl in Auckland.

He spent more than three years in prison before being acquitted at a retrial in 1997, following fresh DNA evidence.

Journalist Donna Chisholm supported him through his retrial and during his long fight for compensation.

Dougherty died of pancreatic cancer in 2017 and Chisholm told RNZ's Saturday Morning the trauma of the conviction fueled Mr Dougherty's alcoholism, which is linked to pancreatic cancer.

"He was damaged for the rest of his life by it, and he couldn't get through it."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details