UK: M25 pair denied a fair trial
01 January 2000
In mid-February the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that two black men, Raphael Rowe and Michael Davis, who were jailed for life after being convicted as part of the M25 Three gang, were denied a fair trial. The gang, which eye witnesses and police described as comprising two white men and a black man, was responsible for a spate of violent robberies and a murder in December 1988. Rowe and Davis (with a black third man, Randolph Johnson) were jailed for life in 1990 and have consistently protested their innocence. The ECHR's ruling in mid-February follows the payment of undisclosed damages by the Prison Service to Rowe in January in compensation for a brutal assault by prison officers in 1993, (see Statewatch vol 2 no 6, vol 7 no 2).
The European Court reached a unanimous decision that Rowe and Davis had been denied a fair trial and appeal because the prosecution had withheld important evidence under public interest immunity (pii) rules. The prosecution had failed to obtain the judge's ruling on whether the step was justified. The Court decided that had the judge known this information he could have put the question of disclosure under review. If the defence had had access to the information they would have been able to question the evidence and credibility of key witnesses. The men's appeal was also tainted by an underestimating of the importance of the undisclosed evidence.
In January Rowe received undisclosed damages from the Prison Service after being repeatedly kicked and punched by prison officers in his cell at Wormwood Scrubs prison in January 1993 and called a "murdering black bastard". His claims formed part of a wider series of allegations against prison officers at the "brutal" prison where 27 officers are facing charges relating to racist abuse and assaults on prisoners (see Statewatch vol 9 no 3 & 4). Another 20 prison officers are likely to be charged after a second police investigation into a further 48 allegations of brutality against former and serving officers. Last year the Inspector of Prisons published a report which condemned the systematic abuse, frequent racial abuse and intimidation of inmates at the "evil" and "rotten" prison (see Statewatch vol 9 no 3 & 4).
The men's case has been referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and a new appeal is expected in the summer. However, James Nichol, Rowe's solicitor, has called for Rowe's release. He has asked the Crown Prosecution Service to concede the appeal in light of the ECHR ruling that "...there was an unfair trial, an unfair appeal and it was entirely the fault of the Crown."