Lynette White

“One of the most egregious [flagrant] miscarriages of justice in recent times”.

This is another one of those deeply disturbing miscarriages of justice, - which again exposes the dangers of secret societies, as this cases involves numerous police officers who must have colluded in secret, to have been able to cover-up the fabricated evidence they had made-up in order to secure a conviction against several totally innocent people, for the murder of Lynette White.  It’s also been questioned, as to why is it, that when a member of the public is arrested for whatever crime, the case is normally investigated and dealt with in a accepted period of time, - so from start to finish, from arrests to the end of trial, is say done in around 10 months.  Yet whenever it’s a police officer or member of the judiciary whose being investigated, that their cases drag on and on for years? 

It’s just been announced 26^th January 2012, that documents have been found after they were thought to have been destroyed, which had led to the collapse of the UK's biggest police corruption trial.  The news as emerged that a review has been ordered into the end of the trial of eight officers, who were all cleared in December 2011.

They were involved in the original investigation of the 1988 murder of Cardiff prostitute Lynette White. The documents have been found still in the possession of South Wales Police [SWP], and as part of an Independent Police Complaints Commission [IPCC inquiry], it needs to establish what’s happened to them after so many years.

Alun Micheal MP

Alun Michael, MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, said the review by Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate [HMCPSI] "...must leave no stone unturned". - "We need to know why things went wrong, why so much money was spent on the investigation and then it wasn't carried through," he said.

Director of Public Prosecutions Mr Starmer said he had asked HMCPSI to carry out the review of the management of the prosecution in the perjury trial. "It is important that the public can have confidence in the way the CPS conducts its cases and the Inspectorate will examine the issues with the utmost thoroughness". And he finished off with the old classic: "Inevitably this will take time, but will be completed as soon as is practicable and a report prepared for the DPP”.

It had been alleged that the former South Wales Police officers had fabricated the case against five men after the murder at a flat in Cardiff's docklands, - three of whom were jailed for life long before being released on appeal.

The retired officers all pleaded not guilty to the charge and were cleared after the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] offered no evidence against the defendants, halting the five-month trial back in December.  It was said at that trial, that files relating to complaints by an original defendant had been destroyed - which would undermine the defence's confidence in the disclosure process.

However, it’s been revealed that this evidence and information has been found, according to the IPCC which is conducting its own inquiry after being called in by South Wales Police.

It says the documents have been found still in the possession of South Wales Police and, as part of its inquiry, it needs to establish what happened to them.

SWP said; " it has decided to refer their part in this matter to the IPCC and we will work in tandem with the inquiry into what happened”.  

The Cardiff Three

Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller - who became known as the Cardiff Three - were wrongly jailed for life in 1990 for the murder of Miss White, and were freed in 1992 after their convictions were quashed.

The case was reopened in September 2000 when new evidence was brought to light.  Advances in DNA led to the arrest of security guard Jeffrey Gafoor who in July 2003 was jailed for life for the murder.

8 years ago in 2004 the IPCC had already started a sham inquiry to ‘try’ and establish what went wrong with the original investigation.   

In 2005, former police officers were arrested and questioned on suspicion of false imprisonment, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office, these officers Graham Mouncher, Thomas Page, Richard Powell, John Seaford, Michael Daniels, Peter Greenwood, Paul Jennings, Paul Stephen were acquitted in December due to these documents ‘going missing’, or led to have been believed they were shredded.

Two people who were hounded and bullied by the police into making false statements, Violet Perriam and Ian Massey, who denied two counts of perjury were also cleared.

Sarah Green

Commissioner Sarah Green said: "The court was told that some inquiries had been made about documents relating to complaints made to the IPCC itself, and that it seemed that these documents may have been shredded on the orders of South Wales Police’s senior investigating officer Chris Coutts. - "The documents were found in the original boxes that the IPCC had sent those files to South Wales Police [SWP] as part of the trial disclosure process in 2009. These boxes were still in the possession of SWP and have subsequently been verified.  The IPCC investigation has not yet concluded and will also need to establish what happened to these two files of documents.  "The IPCC will of course publish its findings in due course."

We’ve heard that before, so we’ll have to see how long this drags on for, as what they saying, is that it was IPCC who sent these documents to SWP.  Was this because they were returning these documents, that had first been sent to them by SWP, which means the police had them all the time, and also shows us the IPCC, had the opportunity to have discovered them and taken copies of them, and should have been able to have presented them on the 1^st December 2011, when the CPS failed to do so, and that led to the collapse of the trial.*

The murder of Lynette White was committed on Saint Valentine's Day, 1988 in Cardiff, Wales. 20 year old White, a prostitute, was stabbed and slashed sixty-nine times in a flat above a bookmaker's at 7 James Street, Butetown. South Wales Police issued a photofit image of a white male seen in the vicinity at the time of the murder but were unable to trace the man. In November 1988 the police charged five black men [the 'Cardiff Five'] with White's murder, although none of the forensic evidence discovered at the crime scene could be linked to the men. This was the longest murder trial in British history, three of the men were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. In December 1992 the convictions were ruled unsafe and overturned by the Court of Appeal after it was discovered that the police investigating the murder had acted most improperly. Their wrongful conviction has been called; “...one of the most egregious [flagrant] miscarriages of justice in recent times”.

During their appeal the Court of Appeal listened to an audio recording of Stephen Miller's police interrogation. When in his judgment, Lord Justice Taylor  [photo on left] said: “...the police had "bullied and hectored" Miller during a "travesty of an interview" and that "short of physical violence, it is hard to conceive of a more hostile and intimidating approach by officers to a suspect."

He ordered copies of the recording to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chairman of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice as an; "...example of what we hope we shall never hear again in this court".^[55] All three men had their convictions declared "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and were released.^[18]

Yusef Abdullahi was treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after his release from prison and campaigned on behalf of other victims of miscarriages of justice and for the reopening of the investigation into White's murder.  In 1996 he said: "Until it happens to you, no-one can have any idea what it's like to be convicted for a murder you didn't commit. We've been really messed up by what we've been through. We needed counselling, but no-one offered us any help. Being inside really did my head in." He died of a perforated ulcer in January 2011, aged 49.^[56][57]

It’s happened to me, and the reason I too write about this and other miscarriages of justice, as nothing is worst than being banged up in a prison cell, with another convicted prisoner for a crime you know 100% you never committed, it’s enough to drive you insane so it is.  

Let’s not forget it was 7 years ago when the toothless and more worrying, incompetent IPCC announced that it would carry out a reinvestigation into the original police inquiry, how come it took all this time the get where we presently are, - as look what took place before we got here. ^[62]

On the 13^th April 2005 five retired police officers were arrested in connection with offences of false imprisonment, conspiring to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.^[58][63]

Four more retired police officers were arrested in connection with their roles in the original murder investigation on the 21^st April 2005.^[64]

Along with these police officers, a further 13 people were arrested in connection with evidence and information that they had provided in 1988 which had incriminated the Cardiff Three.^[65]

On the 19^th May 2005 three serving police officers - a Detective Constable, a Constable and a Detective Sergeant - were arrested.^[66] As the investigation continued, over 30 arrests had been made by November 2005, 19 of whom were serving or retired police officers, including one Inspector.^[67][68]In February 2007, four witnesses who gave evidence at the original murder trial were charged with perjury.^[69]

                                                                        Angela Psaila

In December 2008, three of the accused - Angela Psaila, Leanne Vilday and Mark Grommek [on the right]- were found guilty of committing perjury and each sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. The fourth, Paul Atkins, was deemed "unfit to stand trial."^[50] Sentencing, Mr Justice Maddison said: "It's been submitted on your behalf, accepted by the prosecution, and I accept it myself... you were seriously hounded, bullied, threatened, abused and manipulated by the police during a period of several months leading up to late 1988, as a result of which you felt compelled to agree to false accounts they suggested to you." However, perjury was "an offence which strikes at the heart of the system of the administration of justice."^[70]

In March 2009 the Special Crime Division of the CPS announced that there was "sufficient evidence" to prosecute three serving officers and ten former officers involved in the original investigation with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.^[50] Two further witnesses in the original trial, Violet Perriam and Ian Massey, were also charged with perjury.^[71][72]

In July 2011 the trial - the largest police corruption trial in British criminal history - of Perriam, Massey, Chief Superintendent Thomas Page, Chief Inspectors Graham Mouncher and Richard Powell, and five other detectives, Michael Daniels, Paul Jennings, Paul Stephen, Peter Greenwood and John Seaford, commenced at Swansea Crown Court.^[73] Four other ex-policemen were scheduled to stand trial separately in 2012.^{[35]  -} Source: Camber, Rebecca [7^th July 2011]. "Eight police stand trial for 'framing men in vice girl murder'". Daily Mail (London): p. 11. 

How many millions of taxpayers money has been wasted on this case to date is still a mystery, though we have to come out in the wash eventually.

On 28^th November 2011, despite the passing of nearly 24 years, and the fact that several men were charged and found guilty on police evidence subsequently found to be inadequate, the trial judge ordered a review of evidence on the basis that there were "irregularities in the criminal disclosure process"  The prosecution case collapsed. SWP immediately announced referral to the IPCC for further investigation.^[74]

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16737162

18. ^^{a b c} Jenkins, Lin (11 December 1992). "Appeal judges free Cardiff Three over police conduct". The Times(London): p. 7.

55. ^ Lewis, Greg (8 January 2002). "Whistle-blower who was ignored". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 10.

56. ^ Jones, Lisa (25 January 2011). "Man wrongly jailed for murder dies aged 49". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 7.

57. ^ "Evidence from beyond the grave in Lynette trial". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 18. 7 October 2011.

58. ^ ^{a b} Hammond, Anna; Young, Alison; Stead, Mark; James, David (13 April 2005). "Lynette Murder: Ex-Cops Arrested". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): pp. 1–5.

59. ^ ^{a b} "Life for Lynette White murder". BBC News. 4 July 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3044282.stm. Retrieved 12 July 2011.

60. ^{a b} Woffinden, Bob (5 July 2003). "Real killer jailed in case of Cardiff 3: Legal history is made as man pleads guilty to murder of prostitute for which three others were jailed". The Guardian(London): p. 9.

61. ^ Savill, Richard (5 July 2003). "Nephew's DNA traps killer 15 years later". The Daily Telegraph(London): p. 9.

62. ^ Maunder, Paul (19 November 2004). "New look at Lynette evidence". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 6.

63. ^ "Police arrested". The Times(London): p. 2. 14 April 2005.

64. ^ Hammond, Anna (21 April 2005). "Lynette: Four More Arrests". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 1.

65. ^ Bennetto, Jason (25 April 2005). "Police officers among 22 held over quashed murder convictions". The Independent(London): p. 18.

66. ^ Hammond, Anna (19 May 2005). "Three More Cop Arrests In Lynette Police Probe". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 6.

67. ^ "30 people arrested in inquiry". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 5. 18 March 2006.

68. ^ Stead, Mark (27 May 2006). "Psychiatric help for 19 arrested police officers". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 2.

69. ^ Hammond, Anna (28 February 2007). "Lynette charges". South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 1.

70. ^ Beacham, Rhiannon (20 December 2008). South Wales Echo(Cardiff): p. 1.

71. ^ Gill, Charlotte (4 March 2009). "13 police are accused of framing vice murder trio". Daily Mail(London): p. 26.

72. ^ "Miscarriage case sees 14 in court". Western Mail(Cardiff): p. 15. 25 April 2009.

73. ^ Blake, Matt (7 July 2011). "Police in court over framing of Cardiff Three". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-in-court-over-framing-of-cardiff-three-2308189.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011.

74. ^ "Lynette White case: Police officers' trial collapses". BBC News. 2001-12-01. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15981541. Retrieved 2011-12-01.

If you're fed up with this kind of thing in general, - that again is costing the tax payer millions in pounds, - so many millions of pounds, in fact no one yet knows the actual total bill, that's incorporated two of the longest trials in criminal history! - Join us people, join us to help bring this utter madness to a end once and for all: http://www.causes.com/causes/643665-ban-members-of-secret-societies...