MOJUK: Newsletter
Inside Out No 40
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Doubts expressed by MPs, about conviction of Barry George
Barry George, HMP Whitemoor, currently waiting for a date for his appeal, has got some unexpected supporters in the House of Commons.
Nine MPs from New Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have signed an Early Day Motion (EDM), tabled by Gerald kaufman. Expressing sympathy with national newspapers, who are questioning the conviction of Barry George.
EDM 87 The Press And The Conviction Of Barry George
Signatories: Gerald Kaufman, David Taylor, Bill Etherington, Mike Hancock, Harold Best, George Galloway, Lynne Jones, Rudi Vis, Simon Hughes
That this
House congratulates the several newspapers which have, in detail and on
principle, questioned and expressed their misgivings about the conviction
of Barry George for the murder of Jill Dando; and believes that it is
this willingness to challenge received wisdom in the cause of justice
that makes a free press, whatever its blemishes and shortcomings, an indispensable
bastion of democracy.
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Paul Lyons, HMP Whitemoor,
would like to thank all those who sent him a card for the festive season. He has been unable to send cards back as the governor at Whitemoor has refused to let him have the cards that his family had bought for him to post out. Didnt get out of segregation until Christmas eve, but was denied canteen facilities when he was.
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Jimmy Wright, HMP Parkhurst,
who has done every inch of his time, still hasnt got a release date (should have been released this month, adjudications are keeping him in.)
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Ian Thomas, HMP Ashwell Grange, date of appeal, changed to 12th March, 2002.
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Satpal Ram, HMP Blantyre House
CCRC, submission has gone in. Appeal against Home Secretary's decision not to accept parole board recommendation, should be lodged soon. It will automatically fail for legal technicalities, (Anderton & Taylor v's Home Secretary, appeal against Home Secretary's power to increase tariff lost). Leave will then be made to appeal to the House of Lords.
Parole Board, were to make new review this month, have said they need more time and are putting it back to May/June.
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Ray Gilbert, HMP Woodhill to make another bid for freedom.
My
situation here in HMP Woodhill is stagnant, with no progression. I have
been put on adjudication for destroying a cell, which I find hard to accept
as another inmate destroyed 3 cells and got no GOAD. Self mutilation by
prisoners is getting worse as good behaviour is ignored. Only violence
seems to move the powers that be.
Anyway life outside rolls on, both the main Liverpool newspapers ran stories on me last month, (one is printed below.)
Very disappointed with the results for Susan, Tony and Gary. But they aint giving up and neither am I, hoping to make another bid for freedom this year.
Will let you all know when it kicks off.
Yours in Struggle,
Ray Gilbert, HMP Woodhill
Below from Liverpool Post, last December
Raymond Gilbert, who has appealed twice in the past, will use new human rights laws to try to get his conviction quashed.
Jailed for killing Toxteth bookmaker John Suffield in 1981, along with his co-accused John Kamara. Kamara has since had his conviction overturned.
If Gilbert had told a Parole Board he killed Mr Suffield, he might have been freed by now under rehabilitation rules.
But from his cell in HMP Woodhill, he has told how he will claim he was bullied into a confession both by police and Liverpool's underworld, who forced him to take the blame.
Gilbert, now 43, said: "I was interviewed without legal advice, held incommunicado and had the disability of a severe speech impediment that was exacerbated under stress.
"With constant pressure over two days, I was frightened for my life - not having been in this situation before."
Gilbert claims that further pressure was asserted by the real culprit, who used underworld links to frighten him while he was in jail on remand.
On being jailed for life Gilbert said he felt bitter and he admits he became anything but a model prisoner.
He said: "I have become disillusioned and suspicious of everybody.
"There have been low points. My mother and stepfather have both suffered heart attacks. I have missed my family growing up, missed out on weddings, christenings and not seen my nieces and nephews. "Instead I have seen suicides, brutal attacks with astonishing home-made weapons, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, hostage-takings and self-mutilations that the public would find incredulous.
The defence Gilbert has been putting together with his legal team will argue that because Kamara was freed, the "confession" Gilbert gave has already been proved unreliable.
His solicitors will say that key statements were not disclosed to the defence in the trial.
They will also point out that his human rights were violated and he was treated unfairly throughout his questioning by police officers.
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Our Struggle Has No Borders - Sixth International Day Against Police Brutality
Friday, March 15th, 2002: March 15 2002 marks the sixth year of this international day of protest and solidarity against police brutality.
In the UK, Harry Stanley, Sarah Thomas, Roger Sylvester, Patrick Louis, Christopher Alder, are just a few of the people who have died whilst being arrested or in police custody.
Harry Stanley, is with out doubt the most blatant example of how police get away with murder. The Crown Prosecution Service, are adamant that two police officers killed Harry, yet they wont prosecute.
This day of denouncing police brutality will also be a opportunity to create and strengthen ties between Campaigns of the families, whose loved ones have been murdered by the police and groups that work directly or indirectly against police brutality around the world. It permits the creation of an indispensable national and international solidarity in the fight against police forces world-wide.
Which "crime" shall be punished or not is left to the police's discretion; which laws shall be enforced, where and at what time, and especially who is forced to respect the law, is decided by the police. In effect, the police, abuses its power on a daily basis and exercises its violence with near total impunity. The police continuously and everywhere violate the very laws that they are supposed to uphold. The police no longer hesitate to shoot at demonstrators, to kill them, be it in Gothenburg, in Genoa, in Argentina:
We keenly invite you to participate in the International Day Against Police Brutality.
Until now, this event has taken place in several forms; street theatre, murals, publications, demonstrations, conferences, postering, workshops, exhibitions, radio and television shows, and cultural events. Some groups have organised more than one activity while others have formed coalitions. All collectives or individuals decide on what type of action, depending on the political climate of their country, the energy and willingness of people to organise an event, the resources available, etc. The key thing is the imagination and the creativity of the people involved.
This action has been called and organised by: COBP Collective Opposed to Police Brutality.
Our Struggle Has No Borders
Down With Police Forces Everywhere
Help Organise The International Day Against Police Brutality
If you want to do something on the day in the UK, please contact MOJUK:
This is an abridged text, the full document can be obtained from below. Or for questions, commentaries, or to know more about COBP, write to:
COBP
c/o The Alternative Bookshop
2035 St-Laurent 2nd floor
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2X 2T3
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Dozens of sex offenders win right to appeal
Dozens of convicted paedophiles are to have their cases reheard by the Court of Appeal amid concern that methods used by police to investigate child abuse have led to serious miscarriages of justice.
Many centre on children's homes but others *involve step-parents whose convictions have been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The "test cases" will be followed by an inquiry by MPs into child-abuse prosecutions over the last 30 years amid charges that police "trawled" children's homes and prisons for new complainants.
Lawyers bringing the test cases have been working closely with an all-party parliamentary group, whose members include Baroness Williams of Crosby and the MP for Crosby, Claire Curtis-Thomas. Last week the group won an agreement from the Home Affairs Select Committee for an inquiry into child-abuse prosecutions, an issue many MPs believe has been ignored after the outrage over the trials of Sarah Payne's killer, Roy Whiting, and the pop mogul Jonathan King.
The group is particularly concerned about allegations investigated by Merseyside Police in the 1980s and 1990s. In a test case to be heard by the Court of Appeal in January a careworker at a Merseyside children's home, sentenced to 14 years in jail last year, is to have his case reheard after a key witness, a convicted criminal, withdrew his complaint, claiming he was encouraged to give evidence by the police.
The Court of Appeal will also hear the case of a 60-year-old careworker from Devon who claims the evidence against him consists of uncorroborated allegations made by serving prisoners. In a third case referred to the court, a careworker from Penarth, south Wales, claims allegations against him relate to "non-specific events" over a long time. His solicitor, Tim Hacket said: "[South Wales] police deliberately search out ex-pupils, who generally [have] poor self-esteem or previous convictions, and then suggest names."
The select committee is also expected to look at the effect of compensation. Victims who allege child abuse are usually guaranteed compensation once they have achieved a conviction in the criminal courts.
In a letter to Chris Mullin, the select committee chairman, Ms Curtis-Thomas said: "There is much criticism about how the police trawl for victims and the way they conduct their interviews with the individuals who have allegedly been abused by leading the complainant into making or asserting allegations put forward by the police." She said once a careworker had been convicted, other complaints usually followed, yet many allegations referred to events 20 or 30 years ago that were hard to contest.
Sex offenders make up a third of all new cases considered by the CCRC. A separate category of cases, include step-parents convicted of child abuse many years after the event. In one case, a man from Kent had his conviction for raping his step-daughter quashed after the CCRC questioned the strength of the evidence.
By Robert Verkaik, The Independent, 28 December 2001