Reproduced courtesy of Waterside Press who own the copyright and whose permission is required in writing if part or all of this is published.
“This is one of the most important books ever written about criminal justice.
It would be easy to confine my remarks to the Cardiff Five case but this would be a disservice to the thrust of this narrative as well as its author. If anyone wants to know what has been going on, and going wrong, over the past half century spanning my entire professional career, here it is. Written with spell-binding passion alongside meticulous research and observation, Satish Sekar has accomplished what few others have achieved. It is redolent of those magnificent French films starring Yves Montand where one man takes on the state in the pursuit of truth and justice – and succeeds.
What becomes glaringly apparent is that this is no isolated case. It has become exceptional because of the motivating force exerted by Satish. Unhappily, it is one of many in South Wales and epitomises systemic failure. Most of the others, as well as the Cardiff Five case, are familiar to me because of my involvement in their appeals.
Moreover, such cases reflect an even greater malaise which has infected other police areas throughout the United Kingdom. The best known was the West Midlands [Serious] Crime Squad which had to be disbanded. Another was exposed during the MacPherson Inquiry into the handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder by the Metropolitan Police Service in London – a matter which is yet to come to a final resolution following further revelations about potential corruption.
What marks out the Cardiff Five case is the tortuous route it has followed right up to the present. More so than the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, the Tottenham Three and the Bridgewater Four. But like those cases it demonstrates the criminal justice system’s singular inability and seeming unwillingness to identify miscarriages at an early stage during investigation and trial and then to minimise the risk of repetition: a point which becomes searingly poignant given the way in which a coach and horses was driven through the protections contained in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 within a matter of three to four years of their passage through Parliament The Court of Appeal in the judgement of Lord Chief Justice Taylor expressed its condemnation of what happened: ‘Short of physical violence, it is hard to conceive of a more hostile and intimidating approach by officers to a suspect’. The court never wanted to see such behaviour again.
Stephen Miller whom I had represented on the Cardiff appeal in 1992 had been subjected to a course of patently oppressive questioning. This took place over five days, 13 hours and was contained on 19 tapes. He was bullied with hectoring and demeaning questions until his insistent denials of involvement were worn down to submissive ‘confessions’. The recordings have left an indelible impression on my memory. At the time I almost felt I had been in the room as it happened, because I took the trouble to count how many times Miller protested his innocence – over 300. I also remember clearly the horrified faces sitting in silence at the Court of Appeal as the tapes were played. Their lordships could hardly believe their ears. As a, result that court recommended that copies be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chair of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. I have also used them in talks I have presented to audiences at police conferences to illustrate the risks. The first time I did so was at Hendon Police College just after Paul Condon had taken up office as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and the tape was silent. ‘Wiped’, I suggested, but no, just a fault on the line!
What shocked everyone was not only the techniques employed but also the fact that the officers were brazen enough to carry on despite contemporaneous recording of police interviews. So what went on before this measure was instituted can be readily imagined. It illustrates just how ingrained malpractice had become. The same may be said of the numerous recent examples of racism that have been caught on camera and by other means within the Met. Presently there are seven police officers facing charges out of a total of 20 under investigation. Primitive and insidious ‘canteen culture’ has yet to be tackled effectively at the heart of policing at every level.
The police are not the only constituent element. The obvious oppressive behaviour was unchallenged by a silent solicitor who sat through the whole exercise. The prosecuting authority who had oversight prior to trial failed to stop the proceedings, or at the very least raise concerns with the courts. Three courts failed to halt the process. Committing magistrates and two trial judges were not moved to intervene. If this veritable panoply of legal expertise were so faltering in the wake of clear guidelines, we have to ask whether things have changed.
His is undoubtedly so with regard to confession evidence despite relentless efforts by successive governments to extend the period of detention without charge. But the same cannot be said about non-disclosure which has reverted to the pre-Judith Ward position. That miscarriage changed the face of the procedures necessary to ensure a fair trial. Another instance where I watched the incredulity displayed by the Court of Appeal judges confronted by flagrant malpractice across the board by all participants from police to scientists to lawyers. Regrettably, since then there has been a palpable reluctance to adhere to full disclosure which has contributed to another wrongful conviction of a young man, Sam Hallam, for a murder he persistently denied over the course of eight years was quashed on the 18th of May 2012.
One of the worst examples concerns the convictions of Sean Hodgson for murder and rape. These were overturned on appeal in 2009 after exhibits previously claimed by police to have been destroyed came to light and provided DNA evidence which exculpated Sean after 27 years. Initially, there had also been non-disclosure of materials relating to a number of other suspects which cast doubt on Sean’s complicity.
There are other areas, particularly forensic science and covertly obtained materials where dangers remain over insufficient quality control and non-disclosure. These risks are exacerbated by the short-sighted draconian cuts to resources (closure of Forensic Science Service labs) and to legal aid. This was the problem in the first place when trying to undo a miscarriage. It required the good offices of investigative journalists on Rough Justice, World in Action and Trial and Error to invest time and money. Satish has done the same for longer on a shoestring, against greater odds and almost as a one man band.
In contrast, the state has devoted a sum in the region of £10 million to convicting the wrong people, and now an estimated £30 million on a failed prosecution against those alleged to have been complicit in the wrongful accusations and convictions. This is the latest development in this long-running saga that almost beggars belief. Midway through a trial of eight police officers, all retired, and two civilians the court was informed that copies of certain documents required by the defence were believed to have been destroyed. No sooner had the trial been stopped and the defendants acquitted by the judge in December 2011 than the said documents were miraculously discovered alive and kicking, still in their original containers. Quite how this was allowed to occur without due diligence and enquiry remains to be investigated by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The matter is also being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The system, it has to be said, has rarely delivered accountability in instances of this kind.
Responsibility in another sense was however accomplished. The real killer, Jeffrey Gafoor, was traced through DNA. A first in the history of miscarriages of justice. Although even here there is a real question over the appropriate tariff. Additionally three witnesses who had perjured themselves following the kind of pressure applied to Stephen Miller were also convicted. The pursuit of others was an imperative consequence of the definitive conviction of the killer: an example of true vindication for the five.
Nevertheless, the overall picture is an astonishing patchwork of injustice with many victims including the original one Lynette White. To all of them is owed a basic debt of explanation for bungling on such a grand scale. Only a Public Judicial Inquiry with powers of compulsion can begin the process of restoring public confidence by identifying the areas of default, those responsible and the type of remedial independent supervision required. In the style of the Leveson Inquiry (into the role of the press and police in the phone-hacking scandal) there has to be transparency and public scrutiny. Questions asked behind closed doors by internal reviews are self-serving and left to collect the dust of darkness.
Whatever happens you can be sure Satish will be there airing the public conscience. Having opened Pandora’s Box there will be no closure until the Angel of Hope rises up as Greek mythology would have it.”