8.6.14
1. Paul McLauglin, Miscarriages of Justice Organisation
The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) was formed
as a result of what happened to the Birmingham Six. We are a support
organisation to help those who have been wrongly accused and convicted of
crimes they did not commit. At any one time MOJO has been used by 65-80 people.
We provide legal support and try to ensure after-care for people who have had
their convictions quashed. There is only so much MOJO can do without proper
funding.
The Scottish government provides us with some financial
support, but at nothing like the levels we need. The UK government accepts
there is a problem and they have a duty of care. But it does nothing about it.
There is no financial backing at this level from the UK Government.
When you are released after wrongful conviction, you are
given a travel warrant and £40. That is it. You are sent home with no support.
The official UK state position is – ‘the least said the
better’. There is no real investigation into the Crown or Police when a miscarriage
of justice occurs. There is a little more openness in Scotland, because of
MOJO’s relationship with the government here.
People who have been wrongly convicted face a terrible
choice. If someone maintains their innocence, then they get no parole or home release.
Contesting a miscarriage of justice can result in the person being imprisoned
for longer than if they served the sentence they have been given.
One person we are working with currently was eventually
released after being falsely convicted of attempted rape, and sentenced to 7
years. He served 17 years, an extra 10 years because he protested his
innocence. He had made several earlier appeals, which failed. His calls to
review his conviction were ignored are after that as fishing expeditions.
MOJO goes into prison to give support to lifers and other
prisoners who are maintaining their innocence. For the Scottish Prison Office
(SPO) the issue is control. They see MOJO as helping them in this, and
providing a safety valve. However, MOJO does not want to give the SPO an easy
ride. MOJO wants justice.
There is a Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission, which
has statutory responsibility for examining cases of miscarriage of justice.
One of the biggest failings is the UK Government takes no
responsibility for the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by those
who have had their convictions quashed. This has a major effect on the Innocent
person after they are released. It has been shown in the only study done by
Adrian Grounds that the PTSD suffered by innocent prisoners takes a more acute
form, the longer someone has been imprisoned.
Speaking personally, I think that Scottish independence
could provide a situation where the limited support currently received in
Scotland, compared to England, could be extended. However, this has to be
qualified with an emphasis on the need to have transparency within the
Judiciary, the Crown and Procurator Fiscals Service (COPFS) and the Police with
an need for independent oversight put in place to ensure that the causes of miscarriages
of justice are examined in order to put in place solutions to prevent further
miscarriages of justice. This does not appear to happen currently.
The present government has further centralised Police powers
with the setting up of a Scottish unitary Police Force. We need to ensure more
scrutiny of the Police with independent over sight similar to the Independent Review
Service/Tribunals Service, which is made up of people from all walks of life
adjudicating in civil cases. This means we need to continue campaigning and
putting pressure on MSPs and councillors.
At present the Police Force is increasingly being armed, but
this is not being admitted publicly. So we have an undeclared armed Police Force.
This is a major concern and can only reduce public confidence in the Police.
There have been many more miscarriages of justice since the
Birmingham Six in 1974. But only one policeman has been convicted for their
role in these, Inspector Richard Munro held back information in a murder trial
which could have exonerated two of our clients. 5 years earlier than then were.
The usual grounds for failing to follow-up such cases are “maintaining police
integrity”. Or that to pursue Officers is not in the public interest.
There is no independent oversight of the Crown, judiciary or
police force. There are no public explanations or transparency.
No criminal justice system is flawless. There will always be
miscarriages of justice. The problem is the failure to address these. We use
the National Lottery slogan when it comes to miscarriages of justice, bear in
mind “It Really Could Be You” Remember that people from all backgrounds have
suffered from miscarriages of justice.
2. Paddy Hill, Birmingham Six
Before 1974 the IRA planted bombs in the Midlands and other
parts of England and warnings were given. There was no loss of life or
injuries. I can even remember people coming to see a bomb going off at the
Rotunda in Birmingham.
Then suddenly a coach was bombed. The IRA later claimed that
this was a coach with soldiers being sent to Northern Ireland. It was in fact a
coach with the wives and families of soldiers returning from holiday in
Germany. The Guildford, Woolwich and Birmingham bombings were all ‘no warnings’
bombings.
The British media went into overdrive. The atmosphere was
created that led to my false conviction for the Birmingham bombing.
I was 16 and a half years in prison. I was never arrested. I
initially talked to the police of my own free volition, in order to be
dismissed from their enquiries. British intelligence knew that I wasn’t
involved in Republicanism. I had 3 brothers in the British Army. The third of
these was just then about to serve in Ireland. My father was in the British
Army for 30 years.
However, I had been at school with IRA member, James McDaid.
This was in Ardoyne, a nationalist area in North Belfast, surrounded by
Protestant areas. It was known as the ‘Murder Mile’. It was a close community,
where people knew each other, and could have acquaintances, friends and family
who were involved in the IRA, although the majority were not.
When the official statements about the number of bombs used
at Birmingham – 6, 8 and 12 – were shown to be contradictory, the state
prosecutor said that the people being interrogated were highly trained in
counter-terrorism techniques. Yet, the person providing this information was
interrogated only from 9.00 am to 10.05 am! It was also stated that the bombs
were planted outside the pub, when they were planted inside.
My first involvement was when in going back to Belfast by
ferry from Morecambe, I saw a line of desks, each with 2 cops behind it. I had
a record of trouble with the police. I had been involved in the violence that
comes from football (I was a Celtic supporter) and alcohol in a city, which
still had houses with notices, ‘No Paddies, No Wogs, No Dogs’. This sort of
violence was endemic to the situation.
I did not resist questioning. Indeed I had a friendly
conversation with Detective Constable Willoughby from Morecombe, about
football.
However, the next stage was very different. Myself and my
five co-defendants faced police officers, Brand and Bennett. These two said
that, we know you didn’t do the bombing, but we have to keep the public off our
backs. So you have a choice. You are going to make a confession – you can do it
the hard way or the easy way. When, there was some opposition to making a false
confession, the police resorted to burning us with cigarettes.
When we were put in prison, the prison officers paid people
to stab us, crushed glass was put in our food and they pissed in our tea. I
spent over 8 years of my sentence in solitary confinement. I saw nobody but
immediate family and close friends.
Despite constantly expressing my innocence, I spent 10 years
in prison before the first break. It was actually the local Tory MP, Sir Arnold
Farr, whose constituency covered Gartree Prison, in Market Harbourough, who
first listened to me. This resulted my first appeal in 1987. There were 22
Crown witnesses. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane rejected any evidence which
questioned the police.
It was only in 1991, after another investigation, that the
role of Doctor Skuse, the forensic ‘expert’ was exposed. He had a history of
making claims based on his own specialist forensic techniques that were found
to be completely bogus. He was a fantasist. It was also found that the police
had fabricated their notes.
However, I have found myself in a worse situation since I
was released. I had learned how to cope inside jail. I had internalised the
responses need to deal with the situation there 24/7. I was not prepared for
what would happen to me outside the jail.
One year later I ‘hit the floor’. The doctors said I was
suffering from depression. Well I could see that. My body and brain had
accustomed itself to thinking that tension was normal. I faced any challenge,
just as I would have in prison.
However, there was no treatment for this. Those who have
been involved in other situations like the sinking of the Marchioness, or the
Lockerbie bombings, were immediately given counselling.
On release I was given £46 and my papers. Sometime later I
received £50,000, upped to £100,000 in compensation, pending a final financial
settlement of £964,000. From this were
deducted several costs, including for ‘bed and breakfast’ whilst in prison!
Before this, though, I bought a flat in Muswell Hill, and
spent most of the rest of the money on campaigning, buying a car and touring
the length and breadth of these islands, and to the USA, to wherever anyone
would listen. Whilst doing this I accumulated debts of £30,000, but could not
claim welfare benefits.
I had grown unaccustomed to living outside prison. Even
shopping was difficult. I still cannot sleep for more than one to one and a
half hours. At night, I get up and go out for a drive in the car, or take the
dog for a walk. Two and a half years after coming out of prison I was finally
diagnosed with PTSD – the highest level, worse than that which affects some
soldiers in war zones.
The psychologist in Edinburgh said they had no treatment for
somebody so highly traumatised. In July 2010, I was sent to the Capio
Nightingale Hospital, in Marylebone, London, which deals with trauma victims.
However, they were unable to deal with somebody who had been in long-term
imprisonment. Indeed, it seemed to me to reproduce the conditions I had found
in prison – being put in rooms, told to wait and being told what to do. I
reacted accordingly, and threatened one of the staff. I was put out, without
any arrangements being made, or any regard to what would then happen to me.
What clearly needs to be developed here in Scotland, where I
now live in Ayrshire, is a proper Trauma Centre, where every case could be
dealt with. There are people like Paul Miller, Dr, Gordon Turnbull and Adrian
Groves, who could do this. Indeed, helping with this could well be the job for
me – I have the experience!
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