Hallam's case will send shockwaves through criminal justice system | Kim Evans
17/05/2012
Today's miscarriages of justice are caused by ineptitude or dishonesty by police. Tomorrow's may be caused by underpaid defence lawyers"I will not have my courtroom turned into a circus," Lady Justice Hallett warned family and supporters in a standing room-only courtroom at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday. Family and friends had turned out in force to support Sam Hallam, who was 18 when he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 for killing trainee chef Essayas Kassahun, 21, in a gang attack. Hallam has always protested his innocence.After lunch, the prosecution barrister announced that "the application was not going to be opposed". There was stunned silence followed by uproar as supporters digested that Hallam - jailed a teenager and now a 25 year old man - would soon be free. Hallett kindly asked Hallam whether he understood what was happening, why the hearing needed to continue, and asking if he was OK to carry on. He said "Yes" in a very shaky voice.He had waited seven years (during which time his father committed suicide); he wasn't going to wait any longer. Courtroom eight was not quite turned into a circus, but Hallam's case should send shockwaves through the complacency of the criminal justice system.The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) "cares as much about innocence as anyone", according to Richard Foster CBE, in an address to the Criminal Appeal Lawyer's Association last month. Many campaigners are not convinced the beleaguered Commission does care but the tears in the eyes of Hallam's case review manager following the shock court announcement on Wednesday told another story. On Thursday, when officially quashing Hallam's conviction, Hallet said she was "indebted to the CCRC".Hallam's friends and family were jubilant. Hallam himself was in shock having clearly steeled himself for more disappointment. He is going to need support to help him recover from such a trauma. The jubilation may soon turn into bitter anger at the failings that put him behind bars for so long. Henry Blaxland QC, the silk defending him wanted to examine how the "adversarial" court system itself contributed to the miscarriage. Lady Justice Hallett, unsurprisingly did not.There's a buzz around the miscarriage of justice debate right now, ironic given the crisis in the world of publicly-funded law. Criminal defence work is becoming increasingly financially unsustainable, as advocates are paid less for case preparation and hearings. Lawyers such as Matt Foot from Birnberg Pierce and Blaxland QC (Hallam's defence team) are working harder than ever to get these cases back before the court of appeal. The disquiet around the safety of the conviction of another of Foot's cases, Eddie Gilfoyle increases.The miscarriages of justice presently coming to the fore share a theme of lack of disclosure caused - at its most generous - by ineptitude and at worst by dishonesty on the part of some police officers. Tomorrow's problems may be caused by the defendant's own solicitors. There is no longer a fee payable for reading the unused material served by the prosecution on the defence. There is often gold to be found hidden deep" among these papers, noted David Jessel at a recent JusticeGap event.The unused material can run to thousands of pages, and is the perfect place to hide evidence which could undermine the prosecution case. Unless you are a lawyer with a deep sense of justice, there is little motivation to plough through this material for no financial reward, and with many solicitors' firms laying off staff, there are fewer and fewer people available to do the work.I went to Winchester University last week to look at a case being investigated by Brian Thornton, a lecturer in journalism. The papers on this case fill a room from floor to ceiling, a daunting and heart-sinking case for anyone tasked to review it. The driving force must be the knowledge that an innocent person is sitting in a prison cell, relying on you to find the key to unlock the case.In Hallam's case the key came from his own mobile phone. Photos on the phone showed that at the time he was wrongly identified to have been taking part in the brutal murder of Essayas Kassahun, he was actually in a pub with his Dad. Hallam had forgotten where he was that night, leading him to give what the police believed, and which the jury seemed to have accepted, was a false alibi. Had the police used cell site analysis to investigate the mobile phone, they would have seen early on in the investigation that Hallam was innocent.As the CCRC's Richard Foster told me, he's not so worried about the bigger cases - those with campaigns have a momentum of their own, as evidenced inHallam's case. It's the quiet ones that worry Foster. There are plans to undertake more "face-to-face applications", but the CCRC like everyone else, has been hit by cuts to its funding.The emotional scenes in court on Wednesday was a stark reminder that there can be fewer areas more deserving of funding than ensuring that the criminal justice system in this country retains its integrity.It is the state's ultimate power to deprive a person of their liberty. And it is the state's ultimate responsibility to do it honestly and justly.Kim Evans is commissioning editor of thejusticegap.com, where you can download Wrongly accused: Who is responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice? free Criminal Cases Review CommissionSam HallamUK criminal justiceEddie GilfoyleCrimeCourt of appealKim Evansguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
How a community's outcry led to campaign for justice for Sam Hallam
16/05/2012
Veteran justice campaigner Paul May was asked to help out by friends of Hallam following conviction in 2005Five years ago in a public hall in Hoxton, London, it was the strength of a community loudly protesting the innocence of Sam Hallam that made a veteran justice campaigner believe something was terribly wrong.Paul May, who worked on the campaign to free the Birmingham Six, had been asked to help out by friends of Hallam following his conviction in 2005 for the murder in a gang attack of Essayas Kassahun.Kassahun died when he came to the aid of a friend, Louis Colley, who was being attacked in Old Street by a mob of youths over a perceived insult.Before the attack, 40 to 50 youths had gathered in the area, and when the confrontation came it lasted a matter of seconds. Colley escaped but Kassahun was killed with a penetrating wound to the head. He walked a short distance to a nearby petrol station, where he collapsed. He died two days later in hospital.Hallam was one of two individuals convicted of the killing in 2005. Six others were acquitted.He was convicted on the say-so of two supposed witnesses. There was nothing else to link him to the scene at the junction of Bath Street and Old Street at 8.45pm on Monday 11 October 2004.The key witness against him, Phoebe Henville, changed her account several times, and when challenged at Hallam's trial in cross-examination as to why she had identified him, she said: "I just wanted someone to blame." The other witness who told police Hallam was at the scene retracted his evidence at the trial, saying he could not identify him. Bilal Khelfa also stated he only named Hallam because he had been given his name by Henville. No forensic evidence linked Hallam to the scene and he denied being there on the night.Hallam's friends and family recruited May, knowing his record, and after a meeting with Hallam's mother, Wendy, he agreed to attend a meeting in Regan Way community hall some five years ago."I expected a few people to be there," May said. "When I turned up, there were more than 200 people inside. They were friends, neighbours, members of the family, people in the community who knew Sam. That was the thing that struck me – they were from his community, they knew Sam Hallam, they had known him since he was a child, and they knew he wasn't the sort of guy to get involved in something like this."From that moment May was convinced. It was to take many more years – a failed criminal appeal in 2007; a play entitled Someone To Blame, which was performed at the King's Head in Islington; the intervention of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC); and, most importantly, the combination of May's experience and the sheer will of the community to finally bring justice for 24-year-old Hallam.Matt Foot, Hallam's lawyer, said: "The whole community knows he wasn't there. It's a solid working class community, people who don't like it when things go wrong like this, it becomes a sore which effects them all."This case never should have gone to a jury. This is what it leads to – innocent people being put inside."When Hallam's 2007 appeal failed, it was critical for May to get the CCRC to investigate the conviction. He knew the only way to do so was to come up with new evidence. Using the community as his detectives, he identified nine witnesses who had been at the scene, knew Hallam and made statements saying he was not there.Presented with this evidence, commissioners from the CCRC agreed to examine the case and – unusually – instructed an outside force, Thames Valley police, to review the case. Detective Chief Inspector Steve Tolmie, a homicide detective with a long record of murder investigations, led the new inquiry. "We applied fresh eyes," he told the Guardian. "We were given a very broad remit." Tolmie would not be drawn publicly on the details, but what he uncovered showed that the original investigation by the Metropolitan police was unsatisfactory in many ways.The Thames Valley team discovered that the Met did not carry out cell site analysis of Hallam's phone and did not disclose that another young man, Tyrone Isaacs, who had been named as present at the scene, was in possession of a broomhandle with a nail in one end. Isaacs was also in possession of a mobile phone with no back – and Colley told police he was in possession of such a phone when the attack took place.Police also did not disclose that it was rumoured that another man, also called Sam, was involved.May said the Met inquiry was a "lacklustre, mediocre investigation" and was considering whether to refer the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.Detective Chief Inspector Michael Broster who led the murder inquiry was criticised in court of appeal documents. Broster – who has since been promoted to a detective superintendent in the anti-terrorist squad – was criticised again two weeks ago by the coroner in the Gareth Williams trial for failing to disclose evidence and for being lacklustre in pursuit of lines of inquiry.May said: "It is remarkable that exactly the same criticism that the coroner had of the officer in the Williams inquest are precisely the words we would use about the investigation into the murder. The whole investigation had a casual approach to disclosure and it led to an injustice which only now – seven years on – is being righted."Sam HallamCrimeLondonUK criminal justiceSandra Lavilleguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Teenager found guilty of murder after conkers row
16/05/2012
Boy, 15, faces life sentence for fatally stabbing Steven Grisales, 21, who had remonstrated with group about throwing conkersA 15-year-old boy is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of stabbing a student to death in a row over conkers.The teenager was found guilty at the Old Bailey in London of murdering architecture student Steven Grisales, 21.Grisales died last August after he went over to remonstrate with a group of young people throwing conkers still in their spiky husks. He was walking to Silver Street station, Edmonton, north London, when he was attacked.The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was remanded in custody to be sentenced next month.After the verdict, Detective Inspector Richard Beadle said: "Steven did no more than stand up to unruly youths and for that he has lost his life. The defendant's arrogance and contempt for others belies his age."Knife crimeCrimeLondonguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Sam Hallam released after prosecution decides against opposing his appeal
16/05/2012
Hallam was jailed in 2005 for the murder of trainee chef Essayas Kassahun but has always protested his innocenceSam Hallam, who has served seven years for murder, is to be released from prison after the prosecution told the court it would not oppose his appeal.In a dramatic moment at the court of appeal on Wednesday, 24-year-old Hallam was told that he would be released. Jailed in 2005 for the murder of Essayas Kassahun, he has always protested his innocence and his family and friends have campaigned fiercely for his release.The Metropolitan police face criticism for their murder inquiry and were accused in court of failing to disclose evidence and to pursue lines of inquiry.Supporters and Hallam's mother, Wendy, wept in court. Outside, scores of friends from north London repeated: "We just can't believe this."Hallam – who was 17 at the time of the offence – was convicted in 2005 of murdering trainee chef Kassahun in Hoxton in October 2004. He was sentenced to life with the recommendation he serve 12 years.Hallam was convicted on the basis of disputed identification by two witnesses who placed him at the scene of the killing. In his defence, Hallam claimed he was playing football with a friend at the time. He said he knew there was going to be trouble on the night of the killing and had wanted to avoid it.On Wednesday, Henry Blaxhall QC, for Hallam, told the appeal court that new evidence showed Hallam was not at the murder scene and raised serious doubts about the reliability of the only evidence against him from two witnesses.Blaxhall labelled the case a "serious miscarriage of justice" and said the combination of police failures to investigate and to disclose evidence, and the unreliability of the witness evidence had combined to put him wrongly in jail.The appeal was brought after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) instructed an outside force – Thames Valley – to review the original murder inquiry and pursue new lines of investigation.Thames Valley police and the CCRC both criticised the original Met police inquiry in documents submitted to the appeal court.Paul May, who ran the campaign for Hallam's family, said they had uncovered nine witnesses who said Hallam was not at the scene.The main evidence against Hallam came from a young girl, Phoebe Henville, who changed her account several times. There was no forensic evidence to link Hallam to the scene and he was of previous good character.Henville said in cross-examination at the original trial, when pressed as to why she had identified Hallam: "I just wanted someone to blame."David Hatton, QC for the prosecution, stood shortly after 2pm to announce the crown would not be defending the appeal. "We have given this anxious consideration for a long time and during today and we are not in a position to oppose the appeal," he said.Court of appeal judges are expected formally to quash the murder conviction at noon on Thursday.Michael Broster, the police officer who led the original murder inquiry, was criticised by May outside court on Wednesday, and by the CCRC and Thames Valley police for his investigation in documents presented to the court.The same officer was also criticised this month by the coroner in the Gareth Williams inquest.Hallam's father committed suicide while his son was in prison. His uncle said: "It's disgusting. A young girl gave three different accounts of what happened; there was no DNA, nothing; and the police have based their case on that girl."Kassahun, 21, had come to the aid of a friend, Louis Colley, who was being attacked on Old Street, in central London, by a mob of youths over a trivial perceived insult.One of seven charged with the murder, Hallam initially, on the advice of his lawyer, declined to answer police questions, something his supporters claim may have counted against him at the trial.Another man, Bullabeck Ringblong, was also convicted of the murder and is serving life.Among the supporters of Hallam outside court on Wednesday was Patrick Maguire, who was wrongly accused over the 1974 Guildford pub bombings. Hallam's other supporters include the actor Ray Winstone, but the campaign to free him has been driven by friends and members of the community in Hoxton. Penny Millard, a friend, said the community had united to campaign for Hallam."They all knew he was innocent. He wasn't there," she said. "Today is amazing. It should have happened sooner but the wheels of justice are slow. We can't believe this."Sam HallamCourt of appealCrimeUK criminal justiceSandra Lavilleguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Care home criticised after mentally ill resident is jailed for killing schoolboy
16/05/2012
Judge questions systems at Ashness House home after jailing resident Serif Aslan for murder of 15-year-old Kasey GordonA private care home has been criticised by a judge as he sentenced a mentally ill resident to life for killing a schoolboy.Serif Aslan had not been taking his anti-psychotic medication and said he had kept a knife in his room for about a week.As he walked past a school to go to his favourite cafe, Aslan made a remark about a girl and got into a fight with a schoolboy.Kasey Gordon, 15, went to help the boy and was stabbed through the heart and died on the pavement.Three other boys were injured in what was described as "a scene of carnage" in West Green Road, Tottenham, north London, in January, last year.Aslan, 34, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years.He was given concurrent sentences of up to seven years for injuring the three other boys with the knife.Aslan had lived in the nearby care-in-the-community Ashness House home for six years.Staff were meant to ensure he took his medication twice a day and conduct random searches of his room, where knives had been found twice before.Aslan, who had been arrested in the past for criminal offences including indecent assault and having an offensive weapon, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.Judge Richard Marks told him: "It seems to me that better supervision may well have avoided the tragic events."It is plain that the systems in place at Ashness House to see that you took your medication were plainly wholly inadequate, certainly in the way they were implemented in your case."The judge said if Aslan had been taking his medication, the amount in his blood would have been four to six times higher, indicating he may not have taken his tablets for a week.In the previous month, he had become seriously ill with psychotic symptoms and paranoid ideas, leading to suspicions that he had twice not swallowed his pill after rushing to his room.This should have put those entrusted with his care "on notice" that there was a pressing need to ensure he was taking his medication."This clearly did not happen," added the judge.He said Kasey was a young boy who "happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time".Judge Marks said: "The shocking nature of these terrible and tragic events, cannot be overstated."Aslan's illness had contributed substantially to his actions and he was to be returned to a psychiatric hospital to serve his sentence.Impact statements from Kasey's family said they were devastated and would never get over his death.His mother, Verona, said: "Kasey was the soul of my family. He was a born leader." She said she was not seeking revenge, adding: "Nor do I have hatred in my heart for the man who took my son's life if he is truly mad."The trial was told Aslan had been warned against carrying a knife and for his tendency to stare at young women.He had been walking along the road with a £1.49 kitchen knife hidden in his hand with tissue paper, but he came upon the schoolchildren.Richard Horwell QC, prosecuting, said: "This main part of the incident lasted about 30 seconds and, when it was over, the defendant calmly walked away."He left behind a scene of considerable carnage. The knife that he had carried – the knife he had been told not to carry – was used by him to devastating effect."The 16-year-old boyfriend, who like other surviving pupils cannot be identified, was stabbed in the chest but survived.He told police in a video interview that Aslan told him: "Your girlfriend is very beautiful."The youth said: "I told him to move on. He pushed me and said 'I will f*** you up'. I knew he had problems. He is always round my school. He is always looking at the girls, always making comments."A 14-year-old boy was stabbed near his right hip bone and another 14-year-old boy was treated for superficial cuts to the right side of his face.CrimeMental healthHealthSocial careguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Derby fire victims' father thanks community for support - video
16/05/2012
Mick Philpott, whose six children who were killed in a house fire in Derby on Friday, speaks at a press conference with his wife, Mairead, alongside him
Derby fire: father speaks of anguish as police say blaze was started with petrol
16/05/2012
Mick Philpott, the father of the six children killed in last week's house fire, breaks down as he speaks at press conferenceThe father of six children who were killed in a house fire in Derby early on Friday has spoken of his anguish as police revealed that petrol had been poured through the letterbox in an arson attack.Mick Philpott wept as he spoke at a press conference on Wednesday morning with his wife, Mairead, alongside him and said he had been overwhelmed by support from the local community. Five of their children, aged between five and 10, died following the blaze at a house in Victory Road, Allenton, despite his "valiant efforts" to save them. A sixth son, Duwayne Philpott, aged 13, died in hospital overnight on Sunday with his family at his bedside.Derbyshire police said they believe the fire was started when petrol was poured through the letterbox. Assistant chief constable Steve Cotterill said the seat of the fire was below the letterbox at the front door of the house. Investigations showed the accelerant was petrol.Mick Philpott thanked fire crews for their efforts to save his children. He revealed that Duwayne's organs had been donated to save the life of another child.Results of postmortem examinations revealed that the five younger children – Jade Philpott, 10, and brothers John, nine, Jack, seven, Jessie, six and Jayden, five – died as a result of smoke inhalation.Philpott said that donating his son Duwayne's organs to help another child "makes us happy and it takes a bit of the pain away." He said: "We grew up in a community that's been through a lot of problems with violence and to see this community come together like it has, it's too overwhelming. Those poor gentlemen from the fire brigade who saw what we saw – my heart goes out to them. It's not just us that's suffering, it's them."He begged the media to leave his family alone as it is disrupting the inquiry. "Please leave my family alone. If you've got any questions or anything at all please don't come through me or my family, please go to the police. You're disrupting what these officers are trying to do." He urged the media to let them grieve in peace and quiet.On Monday Cotterill said: "After further forensic examination we believe the fire was not accidental, initial indications are that it was deliberately set and, as a result, six children have been unlawfully killed.""I think it was a very difficult thing for them to do," he said of the Philpotts' decision to hold a press conference. "I pay tribute to their courage. The community have really pulled together and that's manifested itself in additional information that's starting to trickle through." Previously, the police had expressed frustration at the lack of intelligence.The forensic examination at the scene is likely to continue for some time. A 28-year-old woman and 38-year-old man, both from Derby, were arrested by officers investigating the deaths but were released without charge.The children were asleep in their beds upstairs when the fire broke out at the semi-detached house in the early hours of the morning. Their parents were asleep downstairs.Mick Philpott became the subject of media attention five years ago after asking for a larger house to share with his wife, his girlfriend and eight of the 17 children he is said to have. He also featured in a documentary with Ann Widdecombe on the issue of welfare culture.CrimeDerbyHelen Carterguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Sam Hallam to appeal against murder conviction
16/05/2012
Young man jailed as a teenager over death of trainee chef in London to challenge guilty verdict after new evidence emergesA young man convicted of murder will take his case to the court of appeal on Wednesday after new evidence emerged raising doubts over key parts of the prosecution case against him.The appeal court will examine evidence that questions the safety of the murder conviction of Sam Hallam, 24, from Islington, north London.Hallam – who was 17 at the time – was convicted in 2005 of murdering trainee chef Essayas Kassahun in Hoxton in October 2004. He was sentenced to life with the recommendation he serve 12 years.But his family and friends, including the actor Ray Winstone, have campaigned to have his case reopened for a number of years.After Hallam failed to have his conviction overturned at his first appeal, his case was referred to the criminal cases review commission (CCRC), which spent three years examining the evidence. They instructed Thames Valley police to carry out inquiries on their behalf, which involved examining the whole of the original Metropolitan police murder investigation.Their report is key to Hallam's claim of innocence, and unearths new evidence said to undermine the disputed identification evidence from two witnesses that put Hallam at the scene of the killing.The Thames Valley report is also understood to contain criticism of the original Met police investigation into the killing. The original inquiry did not analyse mobile phone cell site evidence or CCTV footage, it is understood.That inquiry was led by then Detective Chief Inspector Michael Broster, who was recently criticised by the coroner in the inquest into the death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams over his role as the liaison point with MI6.The Westminster coroner, Fiona Wilcox, criticised Broster – now a detective superintendent in the anti-terrorist unit, for failing to inform the head of the Williams investigation that he had found nine memory sticks and a holdall belonging to the dead man at his MI6 office. Instead of passing these to the inquiry team he left MI6 to examine them.It is understood in the Hallam case there is further criticism. Broster's murder investigation is found to be of poor quality and to lack control.Hallam, was a kitchen fitter who planned a career in the army when he was arrested for the murder of Kassahun in 2004. Kassahun, 21, had come to the aid of a friend, Louis Colley, who was being attacked on Old Street, in central London, by a mob of youths over a trivial perceived insult.Hallam was convicted on the basis of disputed identification from two witnesses who placed him at the scene of the killing. In his defence, Hallam claimed he was playing football with a friend at the time. He said he knew there was going to be trouble on the night of the killing as a mob set off to look for Colley and had wanted to avoid it.One of seven charged with the murder, Hallam initially, on the advice of his lawyer, declined to answer police questions, something his supporters claim may have counted against him at the trial.Another man, Bullabeck Ringblong, was also convicted of the murder and is serving life. The trial judge recommended Hallam, who is in HMP Bullingdon, should serve a minimum of 12 years.The CCRC said it decided to refer the case after deciding there was "the real possibility that the court of appeal would now quash the conviction".Hallam's appeal is set to last two days in the Royal Courts of Justice in London.CrimePoliceCourt of appealUK criminal justiceSam HallamCriminal Cases Review CommissionSandra Lavilleguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Government departments urged to join fraud-busting scheme
16/05/2012
National Fraud Inititative claims to have saved nearly £1bn of taxpayers' money in the last 16 yearsGovernment departments have been criticised for not joining a fraud-busting initiative despite ministers promising to crack down on illegal benefit claims and other wastes of public money.The Audit Commission, an independent watchdog on public spending, says on Wednesday that the National Fraud Initiative has saved nearly £1bn of taxpayers' money since it was introduced 16 years ago, and more than a quarter of that in the last two years alone.But despite being used by 1,300 public bodies including police forces, the NHS and local councils, only two central government departments - the Highways Agency and the Department for Communities and Local Government - have yet adopted the system, which constantly compares data from 8,000 data sets, each comprising details of sometimes millions of people, and flags up anomalies for investigation.Michael O'Higgins, chairman of the Audit Commission, has now written to the head of the civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake, urging him to make participation in the NFI compulsory for government departments after previous requests had failed. O'Higgins said he had had requests for more information and meetings, but no firm commitment from any other ministers so far. "I think it's inertia rather than anything else [that is to blame]," said O'Higgins. "This is in line with the thing minsters are concerned about, and I expect there's more official level resistance - or resistance might be too strong for it: it's easier to not decide to do something than decide to do it."Some government departments do share information, for example about housing benefit claims, but this did not allow the fraud system to investigate and detect fraud by employees. "Unless we believe there's no fraud being committed by anybody in centrral government - that might be a reason not to participate, but it's hard to think that might be the case," added O'Higgins.The NFI identified savings of £275m across the UK in the previous two years, but the Audit Commission said it could not say whether the increase in the rate of detection was due to higher fraud levels or better detection.In the last two years, the highest amount saved was in pensions, usually by avoiding them being paid to people who had died, saving taxpayers £98m, followed by £50m which would have been paid to people wrongly claiming council tax discounts for living alone, and £31m in housing benefit fraud and wrong payments.Other findings included 164 workers identified by the NFI as having no permission to work in the UK and 321 false applications for social housing. More than 31,000 blue badges for disabled drivers were removed. In total, 731 people were prosecuted, 636 of them for benefit fraud.4.6m data matches have been identified as needing further investigation, of which about one fifth were considered a priority, though many could have turned out to be legitimate claims and payments.O'Higgins said that one striking case spotted with the help of the fraud detection software was a nurse working for two hospitals by taking regular sick leave from one or the other.The Cabinet Office said: "Within just a few months of coming into office, ministers set up the first ever cross-government taskforce to tackle fraud – from its pilots alone this new team has already helped save £72 million for taxpayers."Because fraudsters do not work in silos, we recently unveiled our plan to create a new counter-fraud checking service – a groundbreaking partnership between the public and private sectors to improve fraud prevention and make checks quicker. The new service will allow us to adopt a "check first, pay after" approach."As part of our new approach we are working with the National Fraud Initiative and building on their current model."Civil serviceTax and spendingCrimeJuliette Jowitguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
David Davis says case for secret courts based on a 'falsehood'
15/05/2012
Former shadow home secretary says government's argument 'blown out of water' following US leak about British double agentThe government's central argument for the creation of new generation of secret courts has been "blown out of the water" by the leak of highly sensitive British intelligence in the US, according to former shadow home secretary David Davis.Ministers are stepping up plans to expand secret hearings into civil courts at the behest of MI5 and MI6, amid concerns that the US authorities will cut off the flow of intelligence if details emerge in open court.But in a Guardian article, Davis calls on ministers to face down the demands after details were leaked in the US about a British double agent instructed by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to blow up an aeroplane with a highly sophisticated underpants bomb."This argument has been blown out of the water by last week's disclosures, which demonstrate that the American system leaks far more than the British ever could," Davis writes. "This leak happened not in the pursuit of justice but as a casually irresponsible piece of political spin."Ministers have been under fire from civil liberty groups over plans to allow some material to be concealed from the public, the media and claimants during civil trials. The proposals are a response to the public airing of evidence during litigation brought on behalf of Binyam Mohamed and other former detainees in Guantánamo Bay.The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, raised concerns about the plans in a letter to ministers on the national security council. Clegg said the courts should only be used in exceptional cases where there are national security concerns.In the Queen's speech last week, the government announced an acceleration of the plans when it said that they would be included in a justice and security bill. The so-called "material procedures" would allow sensitive material to be heard in court in front of approved special advocates.Davis argues that the arguments in favour of the secret courts are based on a "falsehood" – that intelligence remains secret in the US. He quotes Mark Fallon, the deputy commander of the Guantánamo military interrogation team, who said: "In the US there are no secrets, only delayed disclosure."Davis writes: "In the coming year, the government, at the behest of the intelligence agencies, is going to ask us to introduce a secret procedure into our civil courts for the first time in our history. It will allow the covering up of crimes – such as complicity in torture – that may have been carried out in our name. It is being justified as a way of protecting secrets from a country that makes a virtue of being even more open than we are, and which as a result lets slip more classified data in a day than our courts do in a decade."It is being argued on the assumption that our allies are naive, and are willing to compromise the fundamental values of our justice system in a war that is supposed to be in defence of those very values. None of these arguments stand, and so this proposal should fall."David DavisDefence policyUK civil libertiesMI5MI6CrimeUnited StatesUK security and terrorismGlobal terrorismOpen justiceNicholas Wattguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Miscarriages of justice may be out of fashion, but they haven't gone away | Jon Robins
15/05/2012
Breakthroughs in cases such as Susan May and Sam Hallam are rare but what to do about alleged wrong convictions is the subject of much debateAnother breakthrough in the Susan May case last week, one of a small number of alleged wrongful convictions that seemingly unravel and attract greater disquiet as the years pass. Last week the Guardian revealed how Greater Manchester police failed to follow up a "good suspect" (in their words)- a heroin addict with convictions for burgling the homes of elderly people. May served 12 years for the murder of her 89-year old aunt, a crime she has always insisted she never committed.May addressed the recent Innocence Network UK (INUK) symposium which called for urgent reform of the reform of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The CCRC was established some 15 years ago in the wake of judicial scandals such as Birmingham Six and Guildford Four. "I thought it was a beacon of light which would ensure those wrongly convicted got justice," May told delegates.When the CCRC was set up, May was in Durham prison where she spent seven years of a 12 year sentence She is thought to have been the first lifer to protest their innocence throughout a sentence to be released on her tariff date. May claims to have been told repeatedly by parole officers, psychologists and prison staff that unless she admitted her guilt, she would never leave. "Even though I may be free from the confines of jail I am not free," she said at the event. "I still feel locked up because my conviction still stands."Despite the profile of a case like Susan May, the 67-year old finds herself without a lawyer and her freedom, as she sees it, is in the hands of a besieged CCRC referring her case back to the court of appeal for a third time. Legal aid ended when the CCRC last rejected her case.Every year the CCRC receives in the region of 1,000 new applications mainly from prisoners claiming to be serving time for crimes they didn't commit. It rejects 96% of its cases. Every so often a case is referred back to the appeal judges such as Sam Hallam, jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 2005 for the murder of Essayas Kassahun, which goes back to the court of appeal on Wednesday.May is not quite alone. She has a network of longtime supporters notably Dorothy Cooksey and her brother Geoff Goodwin, a former builder and lay preacher at the church down the road who she calls her Mr Forensics, and Guardian prison correspondent Eric Allison. "The reality is that without a lawyer, and without a good lawyer, Sue won't get her case back to the court of appeal," Allison tells me. "It's as simple as that."The INUK symposium was one of a number of meetings about miscarriages of justice in recent weeks including a JusticeGap debate entitled Wrongly accused: Who is responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice? and a Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association (CALA) conference - Miscarriages of Justice: Who cares?The subject might have gone out of fashion but (obviously) never went away. Three events took place within weeks suggests people do care; but the lack of interest by the mainstream media was a consistent theme. INUK and its founder Dr Michael Naughton argue the CCRC is held back by the requirement in the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 that only cases with the "real possibility" of the conviction being overturned can be referred to the court of appeal.Professor Zander QC, a member of the Runciman royal commission on criminal justice whose report led to the creation of the CCRC was asked to consider whether the CCRC lived up to what was originally envisaged. He rejected the INUK proposal that the real possibility test is replaced by a test that allows the CCRC to refer convictions back to the court of appeal if it considered that the applicant is or might be innocent.Zander argued that the royal commission would have probably taken the view that it would make no sense to suggest that the CCRC should refer conviction cases "where it did not think there was a real possibility that the conviction would be reconsidered". "It would have said, what would be the point?"At the JusticeGap debate, Gareth Peirce, the solicitor who represented Judith Ward, the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, clashed with Alastair MacGregor QC, the CCRC's deputy chair. What would be the point in the CCRC referring cases back to the appeal judges if there was no real possibility that those convictions would be quashed, MacGregor asked. Peirce described herself as "profoundly shocked". "It's as if you are budgeting the number of innocent people who can get their cases before the court... You are making decisions collectively as to a kind of quota system in which you try and think ahead of what the court of appeal might do.'Meanwhile for those "many people left on the cutting room floor" by the CCRC, as the lawyer Mark Newby put it, the wait goes on.Jon Robins edited Wrongly accused: Who is responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice? available free at thejusticegap.comCriminal Cases Review CommissionUK criminal justiceSusan MayGareth PeirceSam HallamCrimeJon Robinsguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Potato company boss faces jail over Sainsbury's scam
15/05/2012
Andrew Behagg was part of gang that overcharged Sainsbury's by nearly £9mA former potato firm director has been told he faces a significant jail term for his role in a bribery scam with a buyer at Sainsbury's.Andrew Behagg, 60, from the food supplier Greenvale, was found guilty at Croydon crown court of authorising payments in return for lucrative contracts. He was part of a gang of white-collar criminals who overcharged the supermarket by nearly £9m and channelled money back to a senior buyer, John Maylam.The scam – described by Sainsbury's as the biggest ever crime against it – was uncovered when a Greenvale employee grew suspicious when he was asked to withdraw £5,000 bundles in £50 notes from a small local bank.Simon Forster, a group financial accountant, found payments were being entered into the financial system as "entertaining" expenses and then written off as "raw materials" or storage costs for potatoes at fictitious firms in Spain and the UK.Forster said that when he raised the payments with Behagg – one of the signatories of the account used to withdraw the cash – he was told they were "rebates" and part of a "scheme".The prosecution's case was that Sainsbury's was overcharged by £8.7m by the potato supplier, who had a two-year contract worth £40m a year to supply 45% of Sainsbury's UK potatoes at the time.Greenvale handles 10% of the UK potato crop, amounting to 600,000 tonnes a year, the court heard.The prosecutor Paul Ozin told Behagg, from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire: "The truth … is that you knew perfectly well that these were simply corrupt payments to Mr Maylam to buy you better prices."Judge Nicholas Ainley said after the verdict: "For any case of this magnitude a sentence of imprisonment is almost inevitably passed, and a significant one at that."Maylam, 44, of Bearstead, Kent, and David Baxter, 50, of Hinstock, Shropshire, have already admitted corruption and are expected to be sentenced alongside Behagg on 22 June.Behagg was bailed on the condition he stays at his home address.Sue Patten, head of the CPS central fraud group, said: "Potato buyer John Maylam was showered with excessive gifts and hospitality including stays at Claridge's, costing a total of £200,000, and a luxury 12-day excursion to the Monaco Grand Prix in 2007, at a cost to Greenvale of around £350,000."Maylam also received lump sum payments, via an account in Luxembourg, to the tune of £1.5m, supposedly for the storage of potatoes in Spain and other bogus activities."In return for these criminal payments, Greenvale employees David Baxter and Andrew Behagg were able to collude with Maylam in overcharging Sainsbury's to the tune of £8.7m."Detective Inspector Matt Bradford, from City of London police's economic crime directorate, said: "This was a very complex fraud but the tireless work of our detectives over a four-year period has seen Andrew Behagg found guilty of corruption today."His conviction should send a clear message to anyone considering getting involved in this type of fraud – the City of London police will bring you to justice."A Sainsbury's spokesman said: "This was an unacceptable and calculated crime against Sainsbury's of a magnitude never experienced in our history."We are pleased that justice has been done with today's verdict and we would like to thank the police for their thorough investigation that led to the conviction of John Maylam and David Baxter in 2011 and Andrew Behagg today."Produce Investments, the owners of Greenvale, said: "We instigated this investigation and have since then introduced new procedures to make sure that such abuse can never happen again."Our relationship with Sainsbury's is now on a footing as before and we continue to be one of the largest suppliers of potatoes to shoppers all over the country."The company disputed the CPS's figure. A spokesman said: "Our investigations showed that £3.2m, rather than the figure mentioned in court, had been disbursed improperly and all such arrangements were stopped immediately."CrimeJ SainsburySupermarketsRetail industryguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Takeaway owner jailed for inciting child prostitution
15/05/2012
Azad Miah, 44, a married father of four, ran brothel from restaurant and paid two teenagers for sexA takeaway owner has been jailed for 15 years for attempting to recruit girls as young as 12 into prostitution and paying other teenagers for sex in a case which was described as "cold, clinical exploitation of the desperate and the vulnerable".Azad Miah, 44, a married father of four children, was found guilty at Carlisle crown court of running a brothel from his business, inciting girls aged between 12 and 16 to prostitute. He was also convicted of paying two teenagers for sex.The owner of the Spice of India restaurant, now under new management, denied all the charges relating to the five victims.The court heard that a 12-year-old victim complained to police on three occasions in 2008 about Miah persistently harassing her, but it was three years before he was arrested. She eventually gave up complaining as nothing was done.When the victim was interviewed following his arrest, she was asked by police if she knew why she was being questioned, and replied: "Because of something that happened three years ago and now you have finally decided to do something about it."The prosecution described the abuse as "cold, clinical exploitation of the desperate and the vulnerable". Miah told one of his victims: "In my country it doesn't matter about age."The court heard that Miah, a Bangladeshi national, regarded the girls as "fresh meat" and asked prostitutes at the brothel to find young girls, whom he bombarded with hundreds of text messages promising to give them drugs, alcohol and money in return for sex.Sentencing him to a total of 15 years on Tuesday, Judge Peter Hughes said: "This case reveals the seedier side of life in our town and city centres and what can happen to vulnerable and immature girls."There are lessons from this case for us all to learn. There are lessons for parents to learn whose responsibility it is to protect their children. There are lessons for those responsible for safeguarding vulnerable children from deprived backgrounds and without appropriate parental care and guidance."Hughes said there were lessons for the police "to be ever vigilant to detect signs of the possible exploitation and abuse of vulnerable people and to take seriously what they say – however chaotic and difficult their lives may be".The judge said a sad feature of the case was that there were a number of occasions when witnesses complained to police or community support officers about the defendant pestering them but their complaints were not taken further. "As a result opportunities were missed," he added. Hughes said the investigation owed much to the dedication and determination of one officer to trace the witnesses and make it possible for them to feel they could come forward.He told Miah that his conduct "corrodes the foundations of decency and respect by which all right-thinking people live their lives". He said Miah had shown a total and selfish disregard for the victims' welfare.One of the victims was encouraged to have sex with Miah as she was desperate for money when she was 15. The other, who was a heroin user, had a two-year sexual relationship with him which began when she was 15.Tim Evans, prosecuting, told the court: "The defendant sought to persuade a variety of young girls to have sex with him for money, or the equivalent of money, via the provision of drugs and drink. The attempted persuasion was persistent. He would hound young girls for periods of weeks or months, face to face and over the phone."More worryingly he would stalk some of them, following them home in particular."During police interviews, Miah admitted being addicted to sex but said the allegations had been concocted by "druggists" who were upset when he stopped giving them food and money.Miah targeted the girls because he thought they would be less likely to be believed than the respectable businessman he purported to be, the court heard.He was jailed for nine years for four counts of paying for the sexual services of a child between 2006 and 2009, one of keeping a brothel between 2005 and 2011 and five years for the charges of inciting child prostitution. He was cleared of child prostitution charges relating to two other girls.Detective Constable Christy Robertson, who interviewed Miah, said he showed "horrendous" contempt for his victims, whom he targeted because of their vulnerable and chaotic backgrounds.She said: "Even in their worst state of addiction they knew this wasn't right, and they knew this was their way of hopefully putting a stop to what was happening and protecting the next generation of girls."CrimeHelen Carterguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Jermaine Pennant given suspended jail sentence for drink-driving
15/05/2012
• Stoke player given eight-week sentence, suspended for year• 29-year-old also disqualified from driving for three yearsJermaine Pennant has been given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for a year, and has been disqualified from driving for three years after he admitted drink-driving.The Stoke City player was more than twice the limit when he got behind the wheel of his BMW to drive back from Manchester in the early hours of 29 April, Trafford magistrates court heard. The 29-year-old was "depressed and stressed" after months of turmoil in his private life and suffering taunts while in a nightclub, it was claimed.Pennant, who admitted his third drink-drive conviction in eight years, had been dumped by text message by his girlfriend on the night of the offence, while another former partner and the mother of his 20-month-old child had not turned up to see him play earlier in the day.He was driving home from the nightclub and was involved in a minor road accident before he was arrested at the scene. The defendant was breath-tested and gave a reading of 89mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.Pennant, of Pool Lane, Sandbach, Cheshire, had already been banned form driving earlier that month by magistrates in Cannock, Staffordshire, for accumulating too many points on his licence. But he was not aware that he was banned because the letter had not reached him, the court heard.On Tuesday he admitted drink-driving, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance. He was also fined £80 costs and given a 12-month supervision order.Passing sentence, district judge Khalid Qureshi told Pennant he accepted the defendant did not know he should not have been driving, but the previous convictions and high alcohol reading aggravated the offence. But Qureshi said he could suspend a jail term because the previous offences were committed a "considerable time" ago and because of the situation Pennant found himself in, in the nightclub."I accept this had not been a pre-planned decision to drive," he said. "The circumstances which arose you found difficult to deal with and led you to believe the only option you had was to drive your vehicle, to get away from an unpleasant situation, you had no option."Stoke CityCrimeguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Stepfather jailed for murder of five-year-old boy
15/05/2012
'Controlling' Elvis Lee must serve at least 17 years after kicking Tyler Whelan into a door at his home, rupturing his abdomenA "wicked and controlling" man who murdered his "fun-loving, mischievous" stepson has been ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison.Elvis Lee, 34, was found guilty of murdering five-year-old Tyler Whelan.Lee admitted he kicked and bit Tyler on the day of his death but denied murder. The kick was so hard that Tyler flew half a metre through the air, hitting a door at his home in Paston, near Peterborough, rupturing his abdomen and slowly killing him.At Cambridge crown court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Nicol sentenced Lee to life with a minimum tariff of 17 and a half years.He said: "Tyler had been left in your care while his mother took two other children to school."His young life was cut tragically short. This has been a tragedy for his father, his mother and the rest of the family."Tyler was particularly vulnerable because of his age. He was only half your height and a quarter of your weight."I entertain the lingering suspicion you inflicted more blows than you have admitted and that may have been the reason Tyler said nothing to his mother when she returned."The boy's mother, Stephanie Whelan, 27, was found guilty of allowing the boy's death. She will be sentenced next month.A report published after the conviction found that key opportunities to protect Tyler were missed by authorities tasked with his care. It acknowledged that previous incidents in which the boy was hurt had been "seen in isolation" with "minimal attempts to link concerning patterns of injuries".Michael Borrelli QC, mitigating, said Lee's attack on Tyler on 7 March last year was not pre-meditated and was instead a loss of temper and "act of spite".He said: "My client was himself the victim of considerable violence as a child."He lacked a real appreciation as to the consequences of what he did because, despite the treatment he himself had been the victim of, he had never suffered serious injury."The trial heard evidence that Tyler suffered a number of "non-accidental" injuries in the year before his death.But Borrelli said his client had been cleared of cruelty and neglect allegations and should be sentenced on the basis that this was an isolated attack.Whelan, of Paston, but originally from Wigan, and Lee, of Paston, were each cleared of two counts of cruelty or neglect relating to their failure to seek prompt medical attention on previous occasions.A serious case review, compiled by the Peterborough Safeguarding Children Board and published after the verdict at Cambridge crown court, acknowledged failings by the organisations responsible for his care, including Peterborough children's services.The report concluded it was impossible to say that, had there been greater intervention, the tragedy would have been prevented. But the report said: "Whilst it would be very challenging to state with any conviction that the subject's [Tyler's] death was either predictable or preventable, there were certainly numerous missed opportunities when interventions should have been more rigorous and incisive on clear occasions when there were concerns about his safety at home."Additionally, there were some occasions when initiatives were not taken to assess the levels of risk to the subject when there was a procedural requirement to have done so."Even if any of the missed assessment opportunities had in fact been taken and completed in line with procedures, it could still not be said with any certainty that they would have made a difference to the eventual tragic outcome."Superintendent Simon Megicks, from Cambridgeshire police, said: "This was a wicked crime in which an innocent five-year-old was murdered by a person who should have been looking after him."Lee is a controlling and violent man who lost his temper and inflicted fatal injuries to Tyler."Whelan has been found to have allowed his death following these fatal injuries – Tyler deserved more from his mother."Every child has the right to be protected and feel safe in their own home and it is a parent's responsibility to ensure this is the case."CrimeChild protectionChildrenguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds