Portia - Fitting-up

Fitting-up by Tom Watkins

For most of my life I have been certain people were fitted-up and wrongly convicted of crime. During this time I have squared my conscience with the thought that the victims of this behaviour were always people with previous criminal records who had committed crimes the the police could not prove, but knew about.

The problem with this reasoning is that it stops people going straight and it is only a very small step, to getting completely innocent people convicted. These days I have no doubt innocent people are convicted.

Last September (1998) I watched a BBC Panorama programme about corruption in the West Midlands Police. Here I saw a re-enactment where a policeman pulled a package of drugs from his pocket and planted them inside the loft opening of a house. He then brought them to the attention of a colleague. This evidence was then used to prosecute the woman whose house they had raided.

As far as I could tell, the only thing this woman had ever done wrong in her life, was to have a friend who was a known drug taker. Fortunately the woman’s young daughter had seen the officer’s actions and her testimony was believed by the jury. Another jury could however, have reached an entirely different conclusion and that perfectly innocent woman would have been sentenced to imprisonment.

To further cover up this behaviour I understand that the prison authorities do not grant a prisoner parole unless they admit guilt. Innocent people spend longer in prison than the guilty unless they are willing to take the blame for something they did not do.

The policeman? Oh, he took early retirement of course. “Not enough evidence” is the usual excuse by the Crown Prosecution Service. This whole business in my opinion is a conspiracy.

Here are two articles on this subject that I found in The (London) Times both published on the 20th of January 1999 and written by their Crime Correspondent Stewart Tendler.

Frame-up Kit carried by flying squad
FLYING SQUAD detectives carried a "first aid kit" of guns and masks on raids to frame suspects, according to allegations under investigation by Scotland Yard's anti-corruption unit. Imitation guns and robbery equipment were often carried when detectives went on operations such as ambushes in which they hoped to catch robbery suspects carrying out crimes, it is alleged.

The guns and masks are said to have been taken along to bolster evidence against suspects and to improve the chances of a conviction. Investigators have been told the equipment was also carried in case an unarmed suspect was shot during a raid. The officers could plant the masks and guns to justify opening fire.

The allegations do not suggest that all members of the squad used the equipment or knew about it, but Scotland Yard's complaints investigation bureau is carrying out inquiries into the allegations. At least three men jailed for armed robbery are expected to go the Court of Appeal over the alleged planting of evidence.

Abraham Shakes was sentenced in 1996 to eight years for an armed robbery conspiracy involving a dairy. He claimed at his trial that a gun was planted in the waist band of his trousers by an officer. John Woodruff and Bill Hickson, once two of the country's most notorious robbers, were jailed two years ago and are each serving 15 years for robbing a post office in East London. They have alleged that an imitation gun was planted on one of them and a real gun was given to them for a robbery set up by police.

Judges free man jailed for 14 years

A MAN serving 14 years in prison for armed robbery was freed by the Court of Appeal yesterday as a result of criminal charges brought against Scotland Yard detectives.

George Ellis, 37, from East London, had claimed during his trial that a Flying Squad officer had planted false evidence against him.

The court was told that 25 members of the same squad - who cannot be named for legal reasons - could no longer be witnesses in the case because they had either been charged or suspended, or would have been suspended if they had not retired. None of those charged had yet been tried. More members of the unit might be tainted by the allegations and would risk cross-examination if used as witnesses.

The appeal court cleared Mr Ellis of taking part in a £37,500 robbery three years ago. One of the 25 police officers charged was a key officer in Mr Ellis's original trial.

John Kelsey-Fry, for the Crown, told the court that new evidence had emerged from two former members of the squad who were now helping Scotland Yard's drive against corruption. As a result, the Crown would not fight the appeal. The two informers would eventually be witnesses. None of the corruption allegations had been proved but at the moment the Crown could not use the 25 as witnesses of truth. He said the prolonged investigations into allegations of dishonesty would take time but it would be wrong to delay Mr Ellis's appeal.

The court was told that Mr Ellis, who was cleared on appeal eight years ago of another armed robbery charge, was convicted largely on the evidence that DNA tests showed that a sample of his saliva matched saliva traces on a bandana worn by a robber.

Stephen Kamlish, for Mr Ellis, said that there were allegations at his trial that the saliva had been planted on the bandana. The officer was called from another part of London to collect the saliva. He went on his own to do a routine job normally done by a non-specialist officer. At the trial he could not explain why he had been called. Mr Kamlish said: "It raises the suspicion he was up to no good."

Quashing Mr Ellis's conviction, Lord Justice Rose, sitting with Mr Justice Maurice Kay and Sir Patrick Russell, said that the Flying Squad officer now charged was "a highly material witness" in the trial.

The saliva was found in a bag thrown away by one of the robbers with £34,000 of the cash. The other £3,500 has never been recovered. Police said that one of the robbers escaped with the cash. He was arrested later. The defence claimed that the police took the money. Lord Rose said the officer who collected the saliva had now been charged with dishonesty. Mr Ellis had suggested that he had planted the saliva. In view of subsequent events the conviction could no longer be upheld. There was no suggestion that there should be a retrial. The court ordered a retrial for Tony Zomparelli, 34, convicted with Mr Ellis and jailed for 12 years.

Mr Ellis, who has been on bail since last autumn, believes that he was the victim of a police vendetta and corruption. He admits that he is no angel: he started a career of crime at the age of 11. But his only record for armed robbery was 18 years ago and he pleaded guilty.

His present troubles began in 1987 when he was arrested near the scene of an £8,000 bank robbery. His first trial collapsed after the jury was given copies of papers used by his lawyer, including his record. The second trial went ahead and he was jailed for seven years before his lawyers were told that an officer's prints had been found on the papers. In 1991 he won an appeal.

"I thought that after that there was no way they would come after me," he said. Then 2 years ago he was arrested in Woodford, East London, four miles from the scene of a £37,500 robbery. Once again there was retrial. This time someone had walked past two of the first jury and told them they should acquit. Mr Ellis claims the police wanted to stop the trial because his case was going too well. At a second trial he and two other men were convicted.

Inside prison, Mr Ellis heard of the first arrests by Scotland Yard in its anti-corruption drive and asked his lawyer to check whether any of the officers in his case were involved. Nine months later he was told the Crown Prosecution Service would not fight an appeal. One of the officers faced corruption charges.

Outside court yesterday Mr Ellis, of Bethnal Green, East London, called on Scotland Yard to scrap the Flying Squad. "I am devastated by what has happened and I plan to sue. I have served 2 years for something I have not done. I have no confidence in the corruption drive."