Disbelief

The failure to investigate, let alone prosecute in miscarriage of justice cases is striking. Mervyn ‘Tex’ Ritter expressed disbelief that appeal judges believed him after an unsuccessful appeal by the Bridgewater Four. Despite their exoneration in 1997 there was no prosecution of Ritter or police officers despite compelling Esda (Electrostatic depression analysis) evidence.

The late Gary Mills and Tony Poole’s case is even more disturbing. Despite clear findings of wrong-doing by police officers by two sets of appeal judges, a Lord Chief Justice, a libel trial jury and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) justice has been denied.

Serious allegations of malpractice including perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice have never been adequately investigated by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) or the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), let alone considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Despite a witness being allowed to lie in his statements to police Paul White has never been investigated for perjury, let alone brought to trial.

Grudging

However, witnesses who claim police malpractice can find themselves charged and condemned. Almost 20 years ago Kevin Sarbutts was jailed for three years for perjury. In 1990 he admitted lying at the trial and second trial of Alban Turner, which resulted in Turner’s wrongful conviction.

Turner was freed on appeal in 1990, but grudgingly by the Court of Appeal, which referred the papers on Sarbutts to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Lord Lane said that it was ʻequally wickedʼ to lie to jail an innocent man or to free a guilty man.

Sarbuttsʼ trial dealt with his allegations of police brutality and misconduct – no charges were brought in relation to Turner. With echoes of the Cardiff Five witnesses’ trial, Sarbutts was treated leniently by His Honour Judge Brian Smedley after a request from the jury for that.

Vindication

Even vindication doesn’t result in investigations, let alone prosecutions. Over a decade after the late Phillip Skipper stood trial for the murder of his estranged wife Karen – a crime committed by John Pope – a witness came forward with a cock and bull story. Pauline Horton claimed that she saw Phillip follow his wife on that fatal night just after she left to walk the dogs.

It allegedly broke Skipper’s alibi and saw him wrongly accused by Pope’s defence at his 2010 appeal and in his subsequent retrial. Her own evidence established that she had a restricted view and could only have seen them in darkness for seconds. There has been no investigation of her claims.

Striking

“Perjury strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system”, said Mr Justice (Sir David) Maddison, when he jailed Learnne Vilday, Angela Psaila and Mark Grommek for 18 months in 2008. Vilday et al had been subjected to conduct that was “unacceptable in a civilised society,” Maddison said.

Police faced trial over it, but the trial collapsed in farcical circumstances in December 2011. Consequently, the three core-witnesses remain the only people convicted of helping to cause one of Britain’s most notorious miscarriages of justice.

Lynette White was brutally murdered in 1988 and five innocent men served a total of 16 years in jail for it. It remains the only miscarriage of justice case where witnesses were convicted of lying about victims of a miscarriage of justice since the notorious Ged Corley case.

Hope

Two months ago Yusef Abdullahi passed away, aged just 49. It could and should have been different. Eight years ago I helped to arrange care that he desperately needed. Abdullahi was in a terrible state. He was by his own admission, addicted to heroin and had an alcohol problem too. It was a sadly familiar story and those just didn’t tend to end well. Tony Paris wasn’t in as bad a state, but he needed help as well and Stephen Miller was on their doorstep. It came as no surprise that he required help as well. None of them were given the assistance that the State which had wronged them owed them.

The Miscarriages of Justice Project (MJP) had been established in 2003 to provide advice and assistance to victims of miscarriages of justice to help them rebuild their lives, but there was a problem. The scheme excluded the Cardiff Three totally and many others too. Only people whose convictions had been quashed after an out of time appeal or a reference back by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) qualified for help.

Uncaring

This had not been the original intent of Parliament, so they were approached to help anyway. The MJP agreed that it was the perfect opportunity for them and for Abdullahi to illustrate the absurdity of a policy that forced them not to help even in a clear cut miscarriage of justice just because they had the temerity to win their first appeal, but its then Deputy Director Amarjit Kaur pulled the plug.

She claimed that if they even went to see them and assessed their needs, they could lose their funding and not be able to help others, so why had her staff agreed to the visit in the first place? “It’s outrageous,” said miscarriage of justice victim John Kamara. “He was a victim of a miscarriage of justice and clearly needed help. They should have given it to him. What use are they if they won’t help people like Yusef when he needed it?”

Lies

Michael O’Brien, himself a victim of one of Wales’ most notorious miscarriages of justice, raised the issue of people like the Cardiff Three being excluded with the MJP. He even asked, years later, why Abdullahi was not helped when it was promised. He was told that Abdullahi was offered counselling and turned it down.

This is not true. Who says so? Abdullahi for one. Others, including his QC, Roger Backhouse, who helped fill the void created by the lack of care for him, can attest to it. “Yusef was very appreciative of the help that I gave him”, Backhouse said. “He acknowledged and thanked everyone who had taken the trouble to help him.” The MJP was not on that list; he confirmed that he had never received any help from the MJP or offers of help from it.

Long Overdue

After-care for victims of miscarriages of justice was an idea whose time had come at the turn of the millennium. Following Parliamentary questions to then Home Office Ministers Lord Williams of Mostyn and Paul Boateng in the late 1990s, the Home Office’s Probation Unit, which became the National Probation Directorate, established a Working Group in July 2000 to consider how to provide help to victims of miscarriages of justice.

The late Lord Williams had recommended that a voluntary sector organisation that was familiar with resettlement of prisoner issues should develop a national service to provide advice and counselling that was tailored to meet the needs of successful appellants. There was no suggestion in his answer that any groups of victims should be excluded.

Errors of Judgement

We can reveal that despite the clear wishes of Lord Williams, many victims of miscarriages of justice have been denied assistance to rebuild their lives because they did not serve long terms of imprisonment. In fact, they were excluded by an error made by the consultant that the Working Group commissioned to scope the service to be provided.

Peter Shore’s job included devising a service based on the needs of former prisoners who had successfully appealed against their convictions. He also had to investigate the potential number of clients and average length of time served in prison. After that he had to consider whether those who had served the longest should be treated as priority users of the service. There was no suggestion in his terms of reference that prisoners who had served long terms of imprisonment should be the only beneficiaries of the scheme.

But Shore did not follow his terms of reference. The report of the Home Office Working Group itself which made the recommendations that resulted in the MJP being set up makes that clear. “The scoping study looked at the two primary sources of clients in need of an advice service: referrals by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to the Court of Appeal and out-of-time appeals. The Report notes that 80 per cent of the cases referred by the CCRC in 1999/2000 resulted in success for the appellant. This suggests a likely annual figure of around 15-20 new cases each year. There are also likely to be a small number of additional cases per year arising from successful out-of-time appeals. In total, the annual case load for an advice service is likely to be in the region of 70 cases per year (new referrals prior to release, existing cases – immediately after release – plus cases requiring support beyond the immediate post-release period).” [their emphasis].

It is clear from that passage that Shore never investigated whether people whose convictions had been quashed on an in-time first appeal had any care needs at all. The Working Group had emphasised the wrong part. This is the important bit. “The scoping study looked at the two primary sources of clients in need of an advice service: referrals by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to the Court of Appeal and out-of-time appeals.”

Shore had just admitted that he had not followed his own terms of reference and had wrongly devised a service that excluded people who had won in time first appeals. Worse still the Home Office Working Group had not only failed to notice that he had not followed his terms of reference, but commended him for his work and established a so-called service that excluded first time successful appellants like the Cardiff Three and also Annette Hewins and Donna Clarke. As a result of these failings the vast majority of successful appellants were excluded from the provision of after-care. Only Fitted-In highlighted this scandal.

Restitution

“Yusef is the only client that I would do this for”, Backhouse reiterated. “The state has a duty to restore people like him to the position they should have been in. They let him down. It is shameful that the consultant did not follow his terms of reference and that the Working Group did not notice his error. Their mistakes denied Yusef and others in his position the help that they needed”.

Abdullahi was fortunate, if that is the right word. He found that there were people who cared enough to help, but he tested their boundaries. He pushed people away hard. They came back time and time again. Eventually he saw that there was another way for him and he took that opportunity. Despite the odd lapse he stuck to the plan that was developed for him, based on his individual needs. Dev Barrah and George Silcott played an important role in helping Abdulahi too.

He managed to overcome some of his demons, but sadly lasting damage had been done and he died too soon. “The way Yusef was treated disgraces our society”, said Backhouse. “I was not surprised that he became a passionate advocate for restitution. His legacy must include an end to this scandal”.