by Tom Watkins
For most of my life I have been certain people were fitted-up and wrongly
convicted of crime. During this time I have squared my conscience with the thought
that the victims of this behaviour were always people with previous criminal records
who had committed crimes the the police could not prove, but knew about.
The problem
with this reasoning is that it stops people going straight and it is only a very
small step to getting completely innocent people convicted. These days I have no
doubt innocent people ARE convicted.
Last September (1998) I watched a BBC Panorama
programme about corruption in the West Midlands Police. Here I saw a re-enactment
where a policeman pulled a package of drugs from his pocket and planted them inside
the loft opening of a house. He then brought them to the attention of a colleague.
This evidence was then used to prosecute the woman whose house they had raided.
As
far as I could tell, the only thing this woman had ever done wrong in her life, was
to have a friend who was a known drug taker. Fortunately the woman’s young daughter
had seen the officer’s actions and her testimony was believed by the jury. Another
jury could however, have reached an entirely different conclusion and that perfectly
innocent woman would have been sentenced to imprisonment.
To further cover up this
behaviour I understand that the prison authorities do not grant a prisoner parole
unless they admit guilt. Innocent people spend longer in prison than the guilty unless
they are willing to take the blame for something they did not do.
The policeman? Oh,
he took early retirement of course. “Not enough evidence” is the usual excuse by
the Crown Prosecution Service. This whole business in my opinion is a conspiracy.
Here
are two articles on this subject that I found in The (London) Times both published
on the 20th of January 1999 and written by their Crime Correspondent Stewart Tendler.
Frame-up Kit carried by flying squad
FLYING SQUAD detectives carried a "first aid kit" of guns and masks on raids to frame
suspects, according to allegations under investigation by Scotland Yard's anti-corruption
unit. Imitation guns and robbery equipment were often carried when detectives went
on operations such as ambushes in which they hoped to catch robbery suspects carrying
out crimes, it is alleged.
The guns and masks are said to have been taken along to
bolster evidence against suspects and to improve the chances of a conviction. Investigators
have been told the equipment was also carried in case an unarmed suspect was shot
during a raid. The officers could plant the masks and guns to justify opening fire.
The
allegations do not suggest that all members of the squad used the equipment or knew
about it, but Scotland Yard's complaints investigation bureau is carrying out inquiries
into the allegations. At least three men jailed for armed robbery are expected to
go the Court of Appeal over the alleged planting of evidence.
Abraham Shakes was sentenced
in 1996 to eight years for an armed robbery conspiracy involving a dairy. He claimed
at his trial that a gun was planted in the waist band of his trousers by an officer.
John Woodruff and Bill Hickson, once two of the country's most notorious robbers,
were jailed two years ago and are each serving 15 years for robbing a post office
in East London. They have alleged that an imitation gun was planted on one of them
and a real gun was given to them for a robbery set up by police.
Judges free man jailed for 14 years
A MAN serving 14 years in prison for armed robbery
was freed by the Court of Appeal yesterday as a result of criminal charges brought
against Scotland Yard detectives.
George Ellis, 37, from East London, had claimed
during his trial that a Flying Squad officer had planted false evidence against him.
The
court was told that 25 members of the same squad - who cannot be named for legal
reasons - could no longer be witnesses in the case because they had either been charged
or suspended, or would have been suspended if they had not retired. None of those
charged had yet been tried. More members of the unit might be tainted by the allegations
and would risk cross-examination if used as witnesses.
The appeal court cleared Mr
Ellis of taking part in a £37,500 robbery three years ago. One of the 25 police officers
charged was a key officer in Mr Ellis's original trial.
John Kelsey-Fry, for the Crown,
told the court that new evidence had emerged from two former members of the squad
who were now helping Scotland Yard's drive against corruption. As a result, the Crown
would not fight the appeal. The two informers would eventually be witnesses. None
of the corruption allegations had been proved but at the moment the Crown could not
use the 25 as witnesses of truth. He said the prolonged investigations into allegations
of dishonesty would take time but it would be wrong to delay Mr Ellis's appeal.
The
court was told that Mr Ellis, who was cleared on appeal eight years ago of another
armed robbery charge, was convicted largely on the evidence that DNA tests showed
that a sample of his saliva matched saliva traces on a bandana worn by a robber.
Stephen
Kamlish, for Mr Ellis, said that there were allegations at his trial that the saliva
had been planted on the bandana. The officer was called from another part of London
to collect the saliva. He went on his own to do a routine job normally done by a
non-specialist officer. At the trial he could not explain why he had been called.
Mr Kamlish said: "It raises the suspicion he was up to no good."
Quashing Mr Ellis's
conviction, Lord Justice Rose, sitting with Mr Justice Maurice Kay and Sir Patrick
Russell, said that the Flying Squad officer now charged was "a highly material witness"
in the trial.
The saliva was found in a bag thrown away by one of the robbers with
£34,000 of the cash. The other £3,500 has never been recovered. Police said that
one of the robbers escaped with the cash. He was arrested later. The defence claimed
that the police took the money. Lord Rose said the officer who collected the saliva
had now been charged with dishonesty. Mr Ellis had suggested that he had planted
the saliva. In view of subsequent events the conviction could no longer be upheld.
There was no suggestion that there should be a retrial. The court ordered a retrial
for Tony Zomparelli, 34, convicted with Mr Ellis and jailed for 12 years.
Mr Ellis,
who has been on bail since last autumn, believes that he was the victim of a police
vendetta and corruption. He admits that he is no angel: he started a career of crime
at the age of 11. But his only record for armed robbery was 18 years ago and he pleaded
guilty.
His present troubles began in 1987 when he was arrested near the scene of
an £8,000 bank robbery. His first trial collapsed after the jury was given copies
of papers used by his lawyer, including his record. The second trial went ahead and
he was jailed for seven years before his lawyers were told that an officer's prints
had been found on the papers. In 1991 he won an appeal.
"I thought that after that
there was no way they would come after me," he said. Then 2 years ago he was arrested
in Woodford, East London, four miles from the scene of a £37,500 robbery. Once again
there was retrial. This time someone had walked past two of the first jury and told
them they should acquit. Mr Ellis claims the police wanted to stop the trial because
his case was going too well. At a second trial he and two other men were convicted.
Inside prison, Mr Ellis heard of the first arrests by Scotland Yard in its anti-corruption
drive and asked his lawyer to check whether any of the officers in his case were
involved. Nine months later he was told the Crown Prosecution Service would not fight
an appeal. One of the officers faced corruption charges.
Outside court yesterday
Mr Ellis, of Bethnal Green, East London, called on Scotland Yard to scrap the Flying
Squad. "I am devastated by what has happened and I plan to sue. I have served 2 years
for something I have not done. I have no confidence in the corruption drive."
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