Justice For Michael Brown     As the family and friends of Michael Brown we would implore anymore who is interested in justice to take a few moments to read his story.     Michael was convicted of the murder of his stepfather Derek Kinder in June 2001. Michael has always maintained his innocence and continues to do so with the full support of his family and friends.     Background     Around Christmas 2000 Michael found himself in severe financial difficulty. On a night out with a group of friends he found a card in a local pub advertising 'Quik cash'. The card had a mobile phone number on, Michael picked up the card and put it in his wallet.     A few weeks later Michael found his finances were spiraling out of control, he came across the card in his wallet which he had forgotten about and decided to call the number. Michael asked to borrow £1,000 and agreed to meet with the lenders at a local pub.     A couple of days later Michael met with the lenders, Michael was informed if he borrowed £1,000 he would have to repay £1500 at fortnightly installments of £100.     After the first couple of repayments Michael found himself struggling to meet the repayments, he was now unemployed and had no source of income. The first time he missed the repayment he was told the repayments would now be raised to £150.     Michael again struggled to meet the repayments and out of sheer desperation he even forged cheques in his mothers name from a joint account in the name of his mother and stepfather, in order to try and meet the repayments. Michael also tried to avoid the lenders by ensuring he was not at home when they were due to call. But of course they did eventually catch up with him.     The manner of the lenders had now changed, they told Michael if he could not meet the repayments there were other things he could do to try and pay off the loan. The lenders suggested to Michael he could deliver a package for them, when he asked what kind of package it was he was informed that he did not need to know what was in the package.     The following week the lenders returned with a small package wrapped in brown paper, Michael was told to take the package to Sheffield train station and to give it to 3 people outside the station, he was given a one way train ticket.     But after a couple of weeks Michael defaulted again. He tried to avoid the lenders again but of course they caught up with him. Michael was told if he could not make the repayments he had to deliver another package, Michael reluctantly agreed.     Weekend of 12th - 13th May 2001     Michael was to meet them on Saturday 12th May to collect the package. However on the morning of Saturday 12th May Michael decided he could not go through with it and he did not turn up for the meeting.     Michael returned home around midnight to find the lenders waiting for him, his stepfather was missing and there were patches of red staining around the walls of the stairway and living room, Michael initially thought it was paint but the horrible realization dawned on him that it was actually blood.  Michael was informed his stepfather had 'an accident', after being physically threatened, he was told he owed them money and if he could not repay it he had to deliver another package. The lenders threatened to hurt someone closer to him if he did not do as he was told. Arrangements were made for Michael to meet them on Tuesday 15th May to pick up the package, completely traumatized he was then left alone and told to clean up the mess in the house.     The next time Michael had contact from the lenders was on Monday 14th May when one of the lenders turned up at his home demanding the keys to the family car.       Mr. Kinder was reported missing by his son on Monday 15th May.     On Tuesday 15th May Michael met the lenders as previously arranged, he was again given a package and a one way train ticket. He was driven to Derby train station by the lenders and was told not to do anything stupid and if he was clever this could be the last time he ever had to see them. Michael delivered the package as he previously had and returned home the same day.     On Friday 15th May traces of blood were found at Michael's home address. The house was then taken control of by the police. When asked Michael agreed to go to the police station in order to assist them with their enquiries as he had been the last person to see Derek Kinder. At the police station he was kept waiting from 6pm until 9:30 pm before anyone spoke to him. He was not free to leave, he was not even allowed to go to the toilet when he asked he was escorted. Michael was kept at the police station until around 11pm. Michael had told the police nothing about the involvement of the money lenders as he had been completely traumatized by the whole situation and was living in fear for the safety of himself and his family. He was still clinging to his hope that Mr. Kinder would return.     Arrest     Michael Brown was arrested on 30th May for the murder of his stepfather. The same day the family car had been found abandoned in Sheffield.       On Monday 12th June part of the dismembered remains of Mr. Kinder were found in a suitcase on the banks of the river Trent in Newark.     Prosecution case     The prosecution case against Michael was based purely on circumstantial evidence. They alleged after a domestic argument about money Michael murdered his stepfather, this theory arose from the cheques Michael had forged in his mothers name from the joint account of Mr. and Mrs. Kinder. Logically the first person Mr. Kinder would have discussed the withdrawals from the account with would have been his wife with whom the account was held, Mrs. Kinder never received any contact from her husband regarding the money missing from the account.     The prosecution pieced together a sequence of events that involved the argument between Michael and Derek escalating into a physical argument. Michael was examined by a doctor who concluded he had no marks on his body that would be consistent with him having been involved in a violent assault in the weeks prior to his arrest. The prosecution went on to state Michael then dismembered the remains of Mr. Kinder in the garden of their home, there was no forensic evidence to credit this accusation, in fact there was no forensic evidence to determine that the remains of Mr. Kinder were dismembered at the family home.     It was alleged Michael had driven around looking for somewhere to dispose of the remains of Mr. Kinder, as two car park tickets dated Monday 14th May were allegedly found in one of Michael's jackets. Michael does not remember seeing the tickets although he does recall being given a handful of rubbish by one of the lenders which he put in his pocket. The prosecution claim he had thrown the suitcase containing the remains of Derek Kinder into Cromford Wharf canal where it traveled in the current of the water to Newark. When the police alleged Michael was at the car park destination at Cromford Wharf, telephone records clearly show Michael was on the telephone at this home address. This raises the question; if Michael was not in the family car at Cromford Wharf who was?     CCTV tapes were put forward at Michael's trial showing a similar looking car to the family saloon driving around the Derby area on Monday 15th May, a prosecution expert stated the car in the footage was the same car, the police used this evidence to fuel their theory that Michael was driving around looking for some where to dispose of the remains of Mr. Kinder. We as Michael's defence are trying to obtain these tapes and have them examined thoroughly, as we believe the car in the footage is not actually the same car.       The prosecution claim to have checked the CCTV footage from Derby and Sheffield train stations, afterwards they stated Michael had been seen returning from Sheffield to Derby by train but there were no sightings of him on his outward journey. Michael's defence team are in the process of obtaining copies of every CCTV tape from both railway stations so we can get our own experts to examine them as we have never had the opportunity to do so.       Before Michael's trial his defence team was making their own enquiries concerning the money lenders, at this time a close member of Michael's family was abducted and threatened. When this incident was reported to the police, they only seemed interested in finding proof that this incident did not take place and Michael's family were just trying to make his defence stronger. Of course the police could not find any evidence to prove their theory, Michael's family were left entirely alone to deal with the whole traumatic experience.     Questions over Michael's defence at trial     As Michael's supporters we believe serious mistakes were made by his defence team at the trial. Evidence was withheld from the jury concerning previous problems Michael had with his finances, therefore proving his continual problems with money. Important witnesses who could have supported Michael's defence were not called at the trial. These witnesses could have given evidence to support the existence of the lenders Michael got involved with as the prosecution claimed they were a figment of his imagination. Michael was also put under significant pressure before the trial to plead guilty to manslaughter but how can an innocent man plead guilty?     The Road Ahead     The family and friends of Michael have had no previous experience of the criminal justice system, we naively trusted in the system believing justice would prevail. Unfortunately we have since learned the criminal justice system does not appear to be interested in the truth; their only object seems to be to secure a conviction no matter what the cost to innocence lives. For those wrongly convicted the road to justice is obstructed at every turn by the state. But with every obstacle we meet the supporters of Michael Brown become more and more determined to overcome this appalling miscarriage of justice.     If anyone has had the misfortune of being involved with similar groups of loan sharks or money lenders we would be very interested in hearing from you. Any information we receive will be treated in the strictest of confidence.     Letters of support and solidarity can be sent to Michael at: Michael Brown GD5476 HMP Gartree Gallow Field Road Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 7RP For further information regarding Michael's case or to contact his family, please write to the address below or e-mail us: 'Justice for Michael Brown' PO Box 6880 Belper Derbyshire DE56 1XF [email protected] aa