Miscarriages of JusticeUK (MOJUK) 22 Berners St, Birmingham B19 2DR One in Five Decisions by Courts Unsafe Because of ‘Misleading Evidence’ Tele: 0121- 507 0844 Email: [email protected] Web: www.mojuk.org.uk Will Bordell, ‘The Justice Gap’: A new analysis of close to a thousand Court of Appeal cases over the last seven years has found that more than one in five decisions by lower courts (22%) were argued unsafe because they contained misleading evidence. The University College London study, which looked at the transcripts of 996 cases, also revealed that more than three-quarters of suc - Our Not So Wonderful Police Force cessful appeals (76%) were based on reinterpretations of the same materials available in the origi - In the last 9 years over 650 police officer have been convicted of various offences, includ - nal trial rather than new information. Scientists Nadine Smit, Ruth Morgan and David Lagnado main - ing murder, assault, fraud, rape, misconduct, sexual abuse, theft, perverting course of justice, tained that when forensic evidence misled judges and juries, it did so because of a misinterpretation publishing indecent images. witness intimidation. planting evidence, death by dangerous driv - of its relevance, probative value or validity. Their paper called on lawyers and expert witnesses to ing, criminal damage, running brothels, preying on vulnerable women, administering poison, bring more transparency to the relationship between evidence and hypothesis, taking care to avoid importing drugs, money laundering, manipulating crime figures, racial abuse, stealing evi - ‘an erroneous understanding of the evidential value of evidence’. dence, acting dishonestly & without integrity, stealing cash from street beggars. The latter was Belief in a hypothesis, the researchers conclude, is ‘sometimes presented disproportionately to the committed by four Birmingham police officers, one got sacked the other three had their wrists actual probative value of an item of evidence’. According to scientists at the European Forensics slapped and told no to get caught again or should I have wrote, not do it again! Genetics Network of Excellence, as The Justice Gap reported in January, it is a myth to believe that DNA evidence is ‘infallible’. In 235 Court of Appeal cases, the UCL study found examples of mis - Early Day Motion 372: Re-Legalising Medicinal Cannabis leading evidence. Over one-third (85) of these cases involved problems with the presentation of evi - That this House believes that it is the duty of the good citizen to challenge laws that oppress the dence in court, and in 26% (60) judges had made errors in their directions on issues like probative sick and the powerless and deny them their medicine of choice; congratulates the United Patients value, standard of proof, relevance and validity. Although the researchers conceded that their sample Alliance for the act of mass civil disobedience in challenging the discredited, cruel and unenforce - size limited their scope and the conclusions they could draw, they concluded that ‘the identified cases able law that criminalises thousands of seriously ill patients for using natural cannabis to relieve are only the tip of the iceberg and can no longer be attributed to simple individual “bad apples” in the symptoms of severe pain and spasm; and thanks the police for its wise restraint and the Multiple system’. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice admitted in response to a Law Commission report on expert Sclerosis Society, two police and crime commissioners and hon. Members for their support for a evidence that ‘there is no robust estimate of the size of the problem to be tackled’. new compassionate and practical reform of medicinal cannabis use to replace the present irre - The study calls for increased scrutiny and analysis of case transcripts, urging for improvements to sponsible black market with a legal market that can be regulated, removing the threat of prosecu - ‘access to case documents post-conviction’ to avoid unnecessary repetition of past mistakes. tion from those already suffering disproportionately the burdens of life's misfortunes. ‘Accepting that uncertainty will remain present,’ the study explains, ‘it is important that the uncertain - House of Commons: 11/10/2017, http://bit.ly/2xAeUSw ties are not caused by erroneous arguments and judgements but by inherent properties of the knowl - Put Your MP to Work – Demand They Sign EDM 372 edge base, which, in turn, can be presented transparently’. The study goes further to reveal that, on To find your MP go here: https://www.writetothem.com/ average, it took 2.9 years for the Court of Appeal to overrule a case. However, 18 rulings took over 10 years to be overturned. ‘The consequences of these are severe’, the report maintains, ‘and have Ireland: Still 'No Time Frame' for Consideration of Prisoner Transfer from the UK Ruling caused many defendants to be wrongfully incarcerated.’ In the coming years, the researchers hope The Department of Justice has still not indicated a time frame in which it will complete its ‘that this research becomes more than just an “academic exercise” as these datasets grow, and that consideration of a Supreme Court judgment on prisoner transfer applications handed down these results allow for the much-needed continuous evaluation of the use of forensic evidence in well over a year ago. Transfer applications to Ireland from prisoners abroad remain on hold court and their contribution to both justified and unjustified rulings.’ after three prisoners successfully challenged the law detaining them. In September 2014, the High Court ordered the release of three men after finding that it could not retrospectively 'Lone-Wolf Dissident' Christine Connor to Appeal Conviction adapt, so as to achieve compatibility with Irish law, the warrants detaining the men here fol - BBC News: A woman described as a lone-wolf dissident republican who was jailed for try - lowing their transfer from English prisons in 2006. The O’Farrell, Rafferty and McDonald case ing to murder police officers has started a bid to clear her name. Christine Connor, 31, was was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the Government’s case was defeated. convicted in May over a terrorist plot in which she posed as a Swedish model to lure men into Answering a parliamentary question, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: "The judge - supporting her attempt to kill. She intends to appeal, arguing that her pleas should not have ment is detailed and has implications for the continuance in its present form of the process been accepted. Her solicitor said the pleas were equivocal, and judges are set to review the operated by the Irish Prison Service for transferring prisoners from other States to Ireland." He case at Belfast's Court of Appeal. Connor's solicitor said the case was a "unique" one. added: "The practical effect of this judgement and whether it will necessitate legislative and/or 'War with police' - "An equivocal plea is one qualified by words which, if true, indicate that administrative changes is being examined by officials of the Irish Prison Service and my the accused is in fact not guilty of the offence charged," he said. "In this unique case, our client Department in consultation with Attorney General. "Given the complex nature of the review told the Crown Court: 'I am not guilty, but on advice I will plead guilty.' This plea should not being undertaken, it is not possible at this stage to indicate a time frame for its conclusion." have been received by the learned trial judge but instead vacated on application." Connor, from north Belfast, is also set to appeal the 16-year jail sentence she was given in June, recognise that reporters, acting as the eyes and ears of the public, have an important role in arguing that it was excessive. She had claimed to be "at war" with the Police Service of informing people about court cases and explaining what had happened in such cases. A landmark Northern Ireland (PSNI) and pleaded guilty to a number of terrorist offences. Some of those ruling was given by three senior judges in 2012 when the Guardian sought documents from a related to homemade grenade attacks on police in Belfast in May 2013, one of which left a hearing involving two businessmen implicated in a huge bribery scandal. They ruled in favour of policeman injured. Her trial heard that she had made hoax 999 calls to lure police to the area, the Guardian and strengthened the media’s right to see documents used in criminal cases. claiming that a woman was in danger. Lord Justice Toulson wrote: “In a case where documents have been placed before a judge 'Her terrorist aspirations' - Police said Connor was not aligned to any dissident republican and referred to in the course of proceedings, in my judgment the default position should be organisations and had acted alone. They also said she had exploited two men to "become that access should be permitted on the open justice principle; and where access is sought for involved in her terrorist aspirations", both of whom later took their own lives. Her efforts to a proper journalistic purpose, the case for allowing it will be particularly strong.” He added that dupe them included using online photographs of a Swedish model and creating a fake social the courts should assist, and not impede, reporters who request documents that would help media profile, detectives said. Her solicitor has also said that Connor has complained to the them to report court cases accurately unless there were strong arguments to the contrary. In Police Ombudsman about the PSNI's decision to release exhibits from the case to the media. other words, obtaining documents from a public hearing should not be an obstacle course for "This is highly unusual and a clear breach of our client's human rights," he claimed. reporters. Too often, however, it still is. Those running the legal system have known for some time there is a problem, and it’s time they acted to bring about proper open justice. Reporters, Closed Justice: How British Courts Are Still Keeping the Public in the Dark and the public, should not left depending on the whim of lawyers when they ask to see docu - Rob Evans, Guardian: Reporting public court cases can sometimes feel like you have come ments that should be public. into a conversation halfway through and are then left struggling to understand what is being talked about. It is an open court, but it feels like it is being conducted as private business between Government ‘Failing’ Victims of Trafficking by Denying Legal Aid the lawyers and the judge. Barristers often start their speeches by saying that they have sub - Jon Robins, ‘The Justice Gap’: The High Court has granted permission for a young woman mitted their arguments in a document to the judge so there is no need to repeat some of them claiming to have been subjected to sexual exploitation as a child to challenge a refusal of legal to the court. The documents, however, are often not passed to the press or members of the pub - aid in her claim to stay in the country. The Government has identified the woman as a poten - lic sitting in the courtroom, leaving them in the dark. At other times, barristers point to a passage tial victim of trafficking but refused her and others in her position public funding for immigra - in a document, and then the judge and the lawyers sit there in silence reading it before the pro - tion advice in a change of policy and, as a consequence, she is unable to apply for temporary ceedings resume. Again, those documents have invariably not been shared with the press or leave to stay in the UK. The prime minister Theresa May has previously claimed to make it a public who have no idea what was being examined. In theory, we have open justice in this coun - personal mission to stamp out the ‘shameful and shocking ‘presence of modern slavery how - try. In practice, it often does not seem like that. The Guardian today reports on how one multi - ever the Ministry of Justice has begun refusing access to legal aid for those claiming to have national company, Ineos, backed down and disclosed a legal document that it used to justify a been victims of trafficking. According to the Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit controversial sweeping injunction against anti-fracking protesters. The Guardian had requested (ATLEU), the Ministry of Justice has ‘changed its mind’ on its interpretation of the Coalition the document under open justice guidelines. The petrochemical giant refused to disclose it, argu - Government’s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which previous - ing that while it had been referred to in the open hearing, that did not mean that it was a public ly allowed that legal aid should be provided since its implementation in 2013. document. It said that the document did not address all the issues in the case which had been ‘The government says that the Home Office will “automatically” consider a victim for discre - adjourned. The company later argued that the legal arguments set out in the document had been tionary leave where they are found to be a victim and so are arguing that this should not be con - superseded. The multinational handed over the document last week. sidered to be a formal “application”,’ the charity argues. ‘They say that vulnerable clients like ours Judges and lawyers like to proclaim that we have had open justice in this country since the the don’t need the help of a lawyer.’ Without the support of legally aided advice, ATLEU argues that Stuart dynasty. It is a constitutional principle at the heart of our system of justice and vital to the rule vulnerable people are unable to put their case effectively in order to obtain a grant of leave. ‘For of law, they say. But there is a problem. Historically, witnesses in a trial gave their evidence orally. most victims, this is a life-changing decision,’ it says. ‘Without being identified as a victim and In recent times, there has been a change, and witnesses submit their evidence in written statements. granted leave most victims cannot escape a life of abuse and exploitation and are denied the Barristers prepare documents setting out their arguments, and these are handed to the judge. All chance to recover.’ Vulnerable children, women and men are left in limbo with no access to this was designed to speed up hearings and save taxpayers money. But it also means that frequently housing or benefits and no way of supporting themselves. It is only with legal status that a vic - these documents are not read out in full in open court, particularly in civil cases. tim has the stability to focus on a course of therapy or to hold their traffickers to account. The In civil hearings, reporters often ask barristers for a document known as a skeleton argument. Government’s decision to deny these victims legal help will mean traffickers get off scot free.’ It is a key document which contains the essence of their arguments in a case. But often, lawyers On the Home Office’s own statistics, in 2015, only 12% of all victims were given discretionary refuse to give copies of these skeleton arguments to reporters who request them. The lawyers leave. Without independent legal advice, ATLEU say that figure will fall further. ‘This is an access resort to curious reasons to avoid handing them over, maybe, because they perceive that it is not to justice issue,’ comments Carita Thomas, the solicitor dealing with this case. ‘Every survivor of in their tactical interest or, maybe, out of fear that their clients may be displeased. Judges trafficking should know what their rights are and if they have arguments to stay here, have 3 4 help to put their case at its highest to the state. What are the provisions about immigration Prisoner Sues MOJ for Confiscating His Penis Pump legal aid for trafficking victims meant to cover if it is not to help them in the identification stage? Scottish Legal News: A murderer with erectile dysfunction is taking prison governors to court for Every statement from the government about a commitment to modern slavery rings hollow if they confiscating his penis pump. Imran Shahid is serving a jail sentence of at least 25 years after are prepared to abandon victims at their most vulnerable point when they most need advice on admitting his role in the racist gang murder of 15-year-old Kriss Donald in 2004. Appearing before their legal rights. They are putting them at risk of a lifetime of further abuse and exploitation.’ Peterhead Sheriff Court, he told Sheriff Robert Dickson that he was now forced to use viagra to ‘Victims are scared and seeking safety,’ Thomas writes. ‘They need a safety net of support, the treat his medical condition, which causes him "serious" side-effects. Shahid told the court: "I'm reassurance of legal status so they are not always looking over their shoulder in fear of their being superseded by a governor who has zero medical experience." However, lawyers from the abusers or of being removed unceremoniously from the country. Recovery does not truly start prison governor said they removed the device on the advice of the prison doctor, who said the until someone feels safe. The new headline must now be that the government is failing survivors, device was "not medically necessary" and prolonged use could cause him harm. despite the rhetoric, because its policies deny survivors real protection.’ In the Name of the Son: Remembering Gerry Conlon Criminals Could te Banned From Drinking After They Are Released From Prison Paul May, ‘The Justice Gap’: In June 2014, I attended the Belfast funeral of Gerry Conlon of the Harriet Agerholm, Independent: Former prisoners could be barred from drinking alcohol after Guildford Four. Gerry’s cruelly premature death made it a very sad occasion but I was delighted to their release from custody under new measures aimed at reducing reoffending rates. The pro - be reunited with individuals who’d campaigned for innocent Irish prisoners. Among the mourners posals would give probation officers across the country, the power to enforce tailored restrictions was Lily Hill – mother of another of the Guildford Four, Paul Hill. More than quarter of a century ear - on criminals when they are released. They would be allowed to ban prisoners from drinking alco - lier, Lily and I spoke at public meetings calling for the release of innocent Irish prisoners. As we chat - hol, gambling or accessing online content. Breaching the rules could result in their recall to jail. ted outside St Peter’s Cathedral, I was reminded of an incident which occurred in the 1980s. Waiting “We are committed to improving the supervision of those on probation and challenging offend - for a train after visiting her son at HMP Winchester, Lily was arrested by Hampshire Police. At the ers to reform and lead law abiding lives on release," said Probation Minister Sam Gyimah. He police station, she was allowed a telephone call to inform someone of her arrest. Lawyers were con - said that the measures would help ensure more "intensive rehabilitation" took place in the com - tacted. The police said Lily had been acting suspiciously. This seemed highly unlikely. She was (and munity, adding they would help to "protect the public and tackle the issues that lead offenders to is) a mild-mannered and manifestly law-abiding woman. After several hours, she was released with - commit crime. "But prison reform campaigners condemned the move as "frankly barmy". out charge. Lawyers continued to ask why she’d been arrested. Eventually, officers admitted that a Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said the government's privatisation of the probation member of the public had overheard Lily speaking in a Belfast accent and called the police. In those service had created a "crisis" in the sector and it was already failing to fulfil its existing duties. "These days, it wouldn’t have been especially surprising if the government had added an offence of being measures will not address the root cause of this failure," he said. "In recent weeks the government in wilful possession of an Irish accent within designated areas of the Home Counties to the panoply has been forced to admit that it has handed tens of millions more to these failing private probation of absurd, panic-stricken measures adopted in the wake of terrorist violence. companies. "This is further rewarding failure at a time when violent reoffending rates are up and as The mistreatment and discrimination suffered by Northern Ireland’s nationalist minority provided offenders struggle to get access to the basic services, such as housing and employment, needed to neither excuse nor justification for the paramilitaries’ actions. Faced with terrorism, the State was help them leave behind a life of crime." under a positive duty to protect its citizens. However, the hasty introduction of senseless legislation He added that under a Labour government "no option will remain off the table" in restoring the pro - which demonised entire communities in Britain and Northern Ireland was almost entirely counter- bation service, including renationalising the sector. The numbers of prisoners surged over the sum - productive. Nor was it reasonable to stifle democratic discussion about the conflict as typified by gov - mer to a record 86,000, with projections that numbers could reach 88,000 by March 2022. Prisons ernment media bans. Above all, it was unacceptable for the integrity of the courts and criminal jus - across the UK have experienced increased volatility in recent months, prompting growing calls for tice system to be undermined and corrupted by repeated incarceration of innocent people. the Government to reduce the number of prisoners. The Prison Governors' Association said a riot at Folk Devils: For many decades, the British media paid scant attention to Northern Ireland. The high-security Long Lartin prison earlier this week should set "ringing alarm bells at the most senior UK government showed even less interest. Until the late 1960s, not a single Whitehall official worked level". Inmates reportedly attacked officers with pool balls during the incident. full time on Northern Irish matters. The consequent reaction in Britain when paramilitary violence Responding to the new measures, Andrew Neilson, Director of Campaigns at the Howard erupted was bewilderment swiftly followed by panic. Rather than seek any explanation of the caus - League for Penal Reform, said: “At a time when prisons are full to bursting and the numbers es of the conflict, most of the media resorted to grotesque stereotypes in which Irish people were of people being recalled behind bars are already rising fast, expanding the channels back into portrayed as congenitally stupid ‘folk devils’ with an atavistic propensity for violence. When paramil - custody even further seems frankly barmy, The Ministry of Justice has clearly failed to think itary bombings spread to England in the early 1970s, the public atmosphere of moral panic encour - this one through." He added that the criminal justice system was not the best place to treat aged police from West Yorkshire down to Surrey to concoct cases against a succession of wholly alcohol and gambling addiction, and "misguided efforts" such as an alcohol ban would only set innocent suspects. Prosecuting lawyers disposed of inconvenient evidence pointing to the inno - more people up to fail. “Our prediction is that recalls will soar and reoffending will not fall [after cence of those accused by deliberate non-disclosure and outright concealment. Government scien - the powers are granted to probation officers]. Instead, a criminal justice system that is eating tists falsified their findings. The courts and juries ignored manifest absurdities in the cases against itself will just get bigger and the crisis in prisons and probation will only worsen," he said. the defendants. No part of the criminal justice system remained untainted. 5 6 Throughout the 1970s the majority of persons convicted of serious terrorist offences in England were directive in that they indicate a general disagreement with the way in which the British gov - innocent. Wrongful convictions in this period weren’t random aberrations caused by a few rogue police ernment responds to, and the courts deal with, the terrorist threat.’ We wrote to the IBA from officers. They were the norm. Efforts to transform Irish people into diabolic ‘others’ in the public mind the Birmingham Six Campaign asking whether the ruling also applied to our own activities and were so successful that ostensibly normal behaviour was cited as proof of defendants’ deviance. Thus, they replied that it did. More serious was a statement issued in 1990 by the West Midlands in his opening speech for the Crown at the trial of the Birmingham Six, Harry Skinner QC pointed to five Chief Constable, Geoffrey Dear. He alleged the IRA had infiltrated the Birmingham Six of the men on a Heysham-bound train ‘playing cards and…in a jolly mood’ to demonstrate their per - Campaign and ‘there is no doubt that the IRA are working with the campaigners’. He provid - verse callousness after placing bombs ‘in some illogical way’. Likewise, the unlikely circumstances in ed no evidence for his lurid claim (he was no doubt hampered by the fact that none existed). which some of the defendants were found when arrested weren’t regarded as incongruous. No-one Nor did he express concern that those of us in the campaign’s leadership with family in considered it odd that Judith (Judy) Ward should be apprehended homeless and destitute sleeping in Northern Ireland might be endangered by his groundless accusation. a Liverpool shop doorway just days after she was supposed to have organised the M62 coach explo - Have the UK government, criminal justice system and media learned any lessons from the sion. To establish her Hibernian ‘otherness’, the Crown claimed – based on no evidence whatsoever – 30 year moral panic during the Northern Ireland conflict? Hardly. Not long ago, I met with that Judy’s father was Irish (both her parents were English). When defendants in terrorism cases failed Vincent Maguire who together with five relatives and a family friend was imprisoned in the to conform to stereotype (as when the Times reported that Anne Maguire gave her trial testimony in an 1970s for terrorist offences which never existed. Speaking of the irrational atmosphere in ’outwardly simple, homespun manner’) sections of the media were almost indignant. which the Maguire Seven were tried and convicted, Vince commented ‘Back then it was Irish It’s sometimes argued that hysteria and moral panic within the criminal justice system in response people on the receiving end. Now it’s Muslims.’ Moazzam Begg freed from months of deten - to Irish paramilitary violence subsided after the 1970s. This is a dubious proposition. Terrorism tion on terrorism charges in October 2014 after the Crown’s supposedly strong case against charges continued to be brought against innocent suspects well into the 1990s. What had changed him seemingly evaporated without trace would doubtless agree. was that defence lawyers and justice campaigners had learned to act swiftly in order to avert the fate suffered by the Birmingham Six and others. I was involved in several such cases. In 1993, I was con - Black and Muslim Prisoners Suffer Worse Treatment tacted by the aunt of a young Derryman called John Matthews. He’d been staying with her while Nicola Slawson, Guardian: Black and Muslim offenders are more likely to be badly treated working in London after failing to find employment at home. She’d just been released from custody in prison, leading to poorer outcomes and mental health concerns, research has found. The after several days questioning. John was accused of hi-jacking a minicab with the intention of caus - Runnymede Trust, a race equality thinktank, and the University of Greenwich investigated the ing an explosion in Downing Street. Arrested at Heathrow Airport three days after the incident, he treatment of male black and minority ethnic (BAME) prisoners, surveying over 340 inmates was charged despite having a water-tight alibi. John’s SDLP constituency MP, John Hume had across four prisons. Those surveyed, of which 100 gave face-to-face interviews, felt discrimi - known him since birth and worked strenuously to have the charges withdrawn enlisting the energetic nated against based on the basis of their race and religion, and were subject to cultural and support of Sir Peter Bottomley MP and Labour MP Kevin McNamara. Thanks to the efforts of his racial stereotypes by prison officers. The researchers found that being black or Muslim dou - estimable solicitor Gareth Peirce, charges against John were dropped after he’d been incarcerated bles a prisoner’s chances (40%) of having worse prison experiences – which includes having for several months. With almost unbelievable vindictiveness, Home Secretary Michael Howard restraints used against them and being put into segregation in past six months – compared ordered that John be re-arrested as he left the court and served with an order to exclude him from with white prisoners (21%). Britain insisting he was a terrorist whatever the court said. They were also more likely to be on the lowest rung of the prison rewards and punishment Moral Panic: Elaine Moore was a Dubliner working and living in London. In 1998, she was arrest - scheme, more likely to be put into segregation and more likely to have restraint used against ed and held in oppressive conditions accused of storing explosives. Successive hearings at them. Almost a third of Muslim prisoners (29%) did not have prison jobs or attend education Belmarsh Magistrates Court took place in a decidedly surreal atmosphere. At one hearing, the pros - courses, compared with 17% of Christian prisoners. This issue particularly affects rehabilita - ecution claimed a pendant she possessed in the shape of a map of Ireland was the emblem of the tion, Runnymede said. Zubaida Haque, a research associate of the Runnymede Trust, said 32 County Sovereignty Movement – a group linked to the Real IRA. The pendant was widely avail - that offenders lose their right to liberty but should not lose their human rights, “especially in able in tourist souvenir shops and had been given to her two years before the group in question had relation to personal safety”. She said “far-reaching staff cuts” were having an impact on the even formed. At another hearing, the stipendiary magistrate refused to accept a proposed bail sure - treatment of prisoners. “If the government quickly reverses staff cuts this will have a positive ty on the grounds that the person resided in Armagh which the magistrate asserted was outside UK impact on mental health, suicides and disproportionality in prisons,” she said. “But cultural jurisdiction. During the lunch break, I undertook the bizarre task of visiting bookshops and awareness and unconscious bias training for prison officers is also critical to address the neg - newsagents in the Plumstead area in search of an atlas which would show that Armagh is indeed ative stereotypes and everyday racism that BAME prisoners experience.” within the UK. Elaine was eventually released after it transpired police had known all along that she The subjects of the study are part of a growing group in prisons. People from BAME back - was innocent thanks to information provided by an undercover officer. grounds make up 25% of the prison population in England and Wales and 41% of the youth jus - Moral panic was occasionally directed at those challenging wrongful convictions. In 1988, tice system, despite these groups making up 14% of the general population, a recent review by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) banned a Pogues song about the Birmingham Labour MP David Lammy found. The Muslim prison population has more than doubled since Six because it might ‘invite support for an organization proscribed by the Home Secretary’s 2002. Last week the government pledged to increase numbers of BAME officers in response 7 8 to their race disparity audit. There is a significant racial diversity gap as BAME prison staff make The investigation stretches back several years to also cover work carried out by the suspects up just 6% of all prison officers. The charity have calculated that the government will need to hire before they joined Randox. Now, the number of positive samples being retested stands at more than four times as many BAME prison officers to reflect the prison population. 10,000, watchdog Dr Gillian Tully told experts at a recent meeting. She said: ‘Prioritisation was being Darrick Jolliffe of the centre for criminology at the University of Greenwich raised concerns about given to those relating to live cases or where the individual in question was currently serving a cus - the link between poor treatment and self-harm and suicide. “Our research in prison has shown a wor - todial sentence. In addition, negative samples would also have to be retested.’ The watchdog added rying trend, with the policies to prevent self-harm and suicide based on a staffing level that no longer in an industry newsletter last month: ‘The most substantial impact thus far has been that all forensic exists,” he said. “Prison officers rarely have the time to develop the relationships with those in prison toxicology testing undertaken by them during the affected period must be considered to be unreli - needed to truly provide support to help prevent self-harm and self-inflicted deaths, and the prison able.’ Dr Tully also raised the possibility that the problem may spread wider than just Randox. She officer training on the complex area of mental health is essentially absent.” He said that austerity said: ‘The organisation concerned held accreditation to the appropriate quality standard, but the mal - measures continue to widen the gap between policy and practice so “those most at risk in prison are practice was not discovered by the usual quality checks. 'This raises a number of questions, includ - quite literally falling through the gaps”. He added: “Trained and confident staff who are provided with ing: a, whether or not malpractice is more widespread than at one organisation; and b, whether or the time to be true agents of support and rehabilitation are desperately needed.” not the quality standards need to be strengthened.’ But she went on: ‘No reasonable set of quality standards could guarantee to prevent determined malpractice by skilled but corrupt personnel and Forensics Scandal Now Hits Ten Thousand Cases the inevitable cost of adding additional safeguards should be balanced against risk.’ Randox said Martin Beckford, Daily Mail: Rogue scientists may have tampered with forensic evidence in more last night it is paying for the retesting to be carried out in independent labs. than 10,000 cases – raising fears that innocent people could languish in jail for up to another five years A spokesman said: ‘When RTS identified that data manipulation was being carried out, it imme - after being falsely convicted for serious crimes, including rape and murder. Experts are now painstak - diately alerted the relevant authorities. RTS continues to assist the police, Forensic Service ingly going back over the vast number of blood tests that it is feared have been doctored by employ - Regulator and Home Office in the investigation, which now dates beyond RTS. ‘It is currently man - ees at Randox Testing Services. The full extent of the scandal is vastly greater than the 484 cases orig - aging the process of retesting samples at appropriately accredited laboratories, as well as covering inally claimed by police in February when The Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed how evidence had the associated costs.’ The National Police Chiefs Council, which is monitoring the effect of the scan - been manipulated. Up to a quarter of the affected samples were used in trials for serious crimes such dal across the criminal justice system, said: ‘We are continuing to work with Forensic Services as rape and murder. Because there are only a dozen experts in the country who are qualified to check Regulator, Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office to identify, and prioritise for retesting, the blood samples, it could take up to five years for all of the falsified data to be sifted through and for forensic samples that may have been affected by data manipulation by two individuals who worked miscarriages of justice to be rectified by the courts. Already, important police investigations, trials and for RTS. We will be able to provide a full and accurate update to the public in the coming weeks.’ inquests, including the investigation into the death of former Premier League footballer Dalian Atkinson, Greater Manchester Police confirmed its investigation has widened to include five new suspects. A have been delayed because critical evidence provided by Randox cannot be relied upon. spokesman said: ‘We are conducting a criminal investigation into forensic results issued by Randox It can also be revealed today that Greater Manchester Police have interviewed a further five sus - Testing Services. 'Our investigation concerns the manipulation of quality control data around sam - pects in the case, in addition to the two Randox employees who were arrested earlier this year. An ple analysis. We do not have any information or evidence to suggest that samples themselves have insider told this newspaper last night: ‘Of the 10,000 cases being looked at, 7,500 are drug-driving been directly tampered with. ‘Randox Testing Services have provided forensic services to police and will all be retested in 21 months. But the rest include crimes such as murder and rape which forces, including GMP, for the past two years. ‘The organisation is being fully co-operative of the will take five years to retest as there are only 12 experts qualified nationally. It could mean that peo - investigation, and brought the issue to GMP’s attention in the first instance. ple are locked up unfairly.’ The scandal centres around the Manchester laboratory of Randox ‘Two men – a 47-year-old and a 31-year-old – have been arrested on suspicion of pervert - Testing Services, where scientists analysed samples of blood for traces of drugs on behalf of police ing the course of justice and released on bail until November pending further enquiries. 'The forces across the country, as well as for family courts that decide adoption and custody cases. In men were not arrested on site. Five further people – two women and three men – have been January this year, Randox, part of a health giant based in Northern Ireland, spotted what it said was interviewed under caution in connection with the investigation.’ A spokesman for the Crown an anomaly in some of the results and called in police. It was suspected that disaffected workers Prosecution Service said: ‘We continue to work with the Home Office, police and the Office of had been falsifying critically important quality control data that verified the accuracy of the test the Forensic Science Regulator to assess the impact of issues relating to Randox Testing results, rather than doctoring the samples themselves. Services. ‘As there is an ongoing police investigation into these issues, it would be inappro - The doctored test results might then make innocent people look like they had drugs in their system, potential - priate for us to comment in detail. ‘Our priority is to establish the impact of these issues on ly leading to them being wrongly convicted of serious crimes. Others may have unfairly lost their driving licences both completed and ongoing cases, in order to ensure that appropriate action is taken.’ or even had children taken from them. Alternatively, guilty people may have walked free. Two Randox employ - Business had been booming at Randox Testing Services as a result of a Government crackdown on ees were questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and still remain under investigation, while drug-driving. Scientists at its Manchester laboratory worked with the Home Office to develop sophisticat - the company was stripped of its Home Office accreditation to carry out tests for police. At first, police chiefs said ed blood and urine tests needed to establish if motorists had been taking illegal substances such as that only 484 positive tests had to be reviewed to see if the results should have been clean, but in May they admit - cocaine and cannabis. A new law, introduced in March 2015, meant anyone who tested positive for one ted that 6,000 cases were being looked at again, and they could include cases of rape or murder. of 16 specified drugs could be prosecuted rather than police having to prove they were unfit to drive. 9 10 RTS, part of Northern Ireland-based health giant Randox, was contracted by police forces to ity and it was tackling the challenges head-on. “HMP Nottingham is working closely with health analyse samples taken from suspects by officers. Thousands of the tests were sent to the firm’s lab colleagues to increase the support available to vulnerable prisoners and is increasing staffing levels at the Hexagon Tower in Blackley. But in January this year, RTS began an internal investigation which will boost safety and stability at the prison – an extra 40 prison officers have recently been when bosses suspected a ‘rogue operator’ had been manipulating quality control data needed to recruited. “The prison has put a number of measures in place to tackle the threat of drugs, and across double-check a test result. RTS dismissed one employee and suspended another, and both were the estate, we are also taking unprecedented action to stop the supply of drugs, including training over arrested at home and questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. All suspect tests 300 specialist drug dogs and making it a criminal offence to possess psychoactive substances.” had to be re-checked and RTS was stripped of its Home Office accreditation while investigations were carried out by the forensics watchdog as well as police. The criminal investigation has now Pizza Nonsense widened to include five other people recently questioned under caution. However, no one has yet Pizza shop sex couple Daniella Hirst and Craig Smith have been slapped with a curfew aimed at worked out what the possible motivation could be. RTS described the events as ‘bizarre’ and said preventing them from performing an encore. Images of the pair engaging in sex while waiting for a that it ‘truly regrets the fact a rogue operator or operators existed in RTS Manchester’. 12-inch pizza in a Domino's store went viral after a staff member posted pictures online. An 18-minute clip of CCTV footage was shown to Scarborough Magistrates' Court before sentencing yesterday, Five Recent Deaths at HMP Nottingham 'Symptomatic of Wider Prison Crisis' The Sun reports. The couple, who live apart, were given a six-month curfew order banning them from Eric Alison, Guardian: Five newly arrived prisoners have died over a four-week period at leaving their own homes after 7pm. It means they will not be able to meet up at night and potentially Nottingham prison, where serious concerns have been raised about staffing levels in reception get into trouble again.Ms Hirst was also ordered to serve a 12-month community order and 10 days areas. Five newly arrived prisoners have died over a four-week period at Nottingham prison, of rehabilitative activity, while Mr Smith was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. where serious concerns have been raised about staffing levels in reception areas. Ten prison - ers have died in two years, compared with four deaths in the previous 10 years. Campaigners Needled say the deaths are symptomatic of a prison system in crisis. Four of the five inmates who died A man has alleged that he was wrongly sacked by a gay porn company when he refused to continue inject - in September and October are believed to have taken their own lives. The death of the fifth pris - ing enhancement drugs into models' penises after accidentally piercing his thumb with one of the syringes. oner is believed to be drug related. Nottingham is a category B local prison, with a capacity of Ronald Baker is suing the Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network because his wages and benefits were stopped 1,060. It takes prisoners from courts in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. when he refused to make any further injections following the incident, after which he was tested for HIV. Although In its annual report, published in July, the independent monitoring board (IMB) at he tested negative, Mr Baker's suit in San Francisco alleges the models are not properly tested for HIV or other Nottingham expressed concerns about the 30% increase in prisoners arriving at the prison. STDs before the injections and AEB has poor safety and hygiene policies, putting him in danger. He is suing for The board said it had been told the number of staff for the reception area would be raised wrongful termination, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the the labor code. because of the increase in new arrivals, but the resources were not allocated. The report said staff were rushed, which created an increased risk to prisoners in the reception, first night and Low Lifer Bitten by a Snake induction areas. Four of the five latest deaths occurred in the first night centre and induction A man who tried to argue that he couldn't complete his community service because he was bitten by a snake wing. The IMB said it remained “concerned about the pressures on reception and the inherent has been jailed for eight months. Scott Balmer told Ballymena Magistrates Court that he didn't turn up to do risks to prisoners when vulnerable upon first entry to prison”. unpaid work because he was bitten by a snake and had to see a doctor. He pleaded guilty to two breaches of Last year prison inspectors also raised concerns about new prisoners at Nottingham. In par - the 200-hour community service order he was given for a wounding offence, the Belfast Telegraph reports. ticular, they said first-night substance misuse work needed urgent attention. Inspectors also Defence barrister Stephen Law appeared to admit that the snake bite story was "outrageous", but added that his raised concerns about the lack of stability at the east Midland prison, noting there had been five client had been homeless and living a chaotic, sofa-surfing lifestyle that caused additional problems. An unsym - governors in four years. Seven prisoners have died at Nottingham so far this year. There were pathetic District Judge Peter King told Balmer: “I’m not sure you fully understand the position you have put your - three deaths in 2016. Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said the sudden and sig - self in.” Balmer reportedly replied: "Huh?" before his 200-hour community service order was revoked and nificant increase in deaths at Nottingham were deeply concerning and symptomatic of a prison replaced with eight months in custody. He has been released on bail pending an appeal. system in crisis. She said prison inspection and monitoring bodies had raised concerns about the regimes and conditions at the prison and that these issues had been left to reach crisis point, Hostages: Wang Yam, Andrew Malkinson, Michael Ross, Mark Alexander, Anis Sardar, Jamie Green, Dan Payne, with tragic consequences. “The fact these deaths occurred within days of arrival at the prison Zoran Dresic, Scott Birtwistle, Jon Beere, Chedwyn Evans, Darren Waterhouse, David Norris, Brendan McConville, John Paul Wooton, John Keelan, Mohammed Niaz Khan, Abid Ashiq Hussain, Sharaz Yaqub, David Ferguson, Anthony Parsons, James when prisoners are known to be most vulnerable, raise concerns about the processes for iden - Cullinene, Stephen Marsh, Graham Coutts, Royston Moore, Duane King, Leon Chapman, Tony Marshall, Anthony Jackson, tifying and managing risk,” she said. “The only way to halt the increasing and morally indefen - David Kent, Norman Grant, Ricardo Morrison, Alex Silva,Terry Smith, Hyrone Hart, Glen Cameron,Warren Slaney, Melvyn 'Adie' McLellan, Lyndon Coles, Robert Bradley, John Twomey, Thomas G. Bourke, David E. Ferguson, Lee Mockble, George sible tide of prison deaths and violence is to dramatically reduce the prison population, invest in Coleman, Neil Hurley, Jaslyn Ricardo Smith, James Dowsett, Kevan & Miran Thakrar, Jordan Towers, Patrick Docherty, Brendan community alternatives and transform the nature and culture of prisons, so they become places Dixon, Paul Bush, Alex Black, Nicholas Rose, Kevin Nunn, Peter Carine, Paul Higginson, Thomas Petch, Vincent and Sean of last resort, where rehabilitation is more than a rhetorical fantasy.” Bradish, John Allen, Jeremy Bamber, Kevin Lane, Michael Brown, Robert Knapp, William Kenealy, Glyn Razzell, Willie Gage, Kate Keaveney, Michael Stone, Michael Attwooll, John Roden, Nick Tucker, Karl Watson, Terry Allen, Richard Southern, Jamil A prison service spokesperson said transforming prisons into places of safety was its top prior - Chowdhary, Jake Mawhinney, Peter Hannigan. 11