Three innocent black men who were jailed nearly 50 years ago over a corrupt police officer’s claims they tried to rob him have had their convictions overturned by the court of appeal.
Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson, all aged between 17 and 20 at the time, were arrested on the tube in London while travelling from Stockwell station in February 1972.
The trio, now in their late 60s, and three friends – who became known as the Stockwell Six – were put on trial at the Old Bailey, largely on the word of British Transport Police (BTP) officer DS Derek Ridgewell, whom the force now recognises as discredited.
The Stockwell Six were accused of trying to rob Ridgewell and all bar one of them was convicted and sent either to jail or to borstal, despite telling jurors that police officers had lied and subjected them to violence and threats.
At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday, the court of appeal cleared Harriot, Green and Davidson’s names, nearly five decades after they were convicted.
Sir Julian Flaux, sitting with Mr Justice Linden and Mr Justice Wall, said: “It is most unfortunate that it has taken nearly 50 years to rectify the injustice suffered by these appellants.”
“It’s vindication that we were innocent at the time. We were only young then, we did nothing. It was a total stitch-up, it was a frame-up for nothing,” Davidson said, speaking outside court after the hearing.
He added: “For 50 years, it affected me … I haven’t been the same. My family didn’t believe me, no one believed me because they thought ‘well, you must’ve done something’.
“We just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a bad, corrupt police officer.” Davidson described Ridgewell, the officer whose evidence helped convict him in 1972, as a “corrupt and wicked and evil police officer”.
But, despite the judges’ decision, it is not thought that any other convictions involving Ridgewell will be independently reviewed, with BTP officers saying they cannot find any cause for further concern in their records.
Jenny Wiltshire, of Hickman & Rose Solicitors, who represented the three men declared innocent by the court on Tuesday, said: “While the acquittal of these innocent men is welcome news, it is deeply troubling that it has taken so long to happen.
“These men’s entire adult lives have been blighted by false allegations made by a corrupt police officer known to have been dishonest for decades.
“Both the British Transport Police and the Home Office were warned about Ridgewell’s lies in 1973. Yet neither organisation did anything except move him to a different police unit.
“Even when Ridgewell was convicted of theft in 1980, they did not look again at the many clearly unsafe criminal convictions which had relied on his witness testimony.”
She added: “For many of Ridgewell’s innocent victims and their families it is far too little, far too late.”
The BTP deputy chief constable, Adrian Hanstock, said: “It is wholly regrettable that the criminal actions of a discredited former officer of this force over four decades ago led to these unsound prosecutions.
“I apologise unreservedly for the distress, anxiety and impact this will have undoubtedly caused those who were wrongly convicted. We understand that nothing can ever make up for the period of time that they spent in custody or the longer-term effect it may have had on them.
“We have examined all available records which suggest that (Derek) Ridgewell was the principal officer in other investigations and have not identified any additional matters that we feel should be referred for external review.”