Paul Blackburn spent 25 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Now at 45 he's still getting to grips with a world he last experienced as a teenager
I served 25 years of a life sentence for a crime I did commit. During my time inside I witnessed the suffering of those wrongly convicted such as the Birmingham 6 and Guildford 4. What is sad about the case of Paul Blackburn is the suffering inside for what he had not done, and the continued suffering outside now that he has been cleared of any wrongdoing. It is well past time that the Ministry of Justice paid out compensation, and those police officers who caused him to suffer because they perverted the course of justice should be sacked and made to stand trial.
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Miscarriages of Justice are happening today.
The British War on Terror is dishing out 40 years for thoughtcrime (e.g. Dhiren '9 Passports' Barot & his 'gang').
According to Sphincter of the Yard DAC Peter Clarke....
"It is no exaggeration to say that at the time of the arrest there was not one shred of admissible evidence against Barot. The arrest was perfectly lawful - there were more than sufficient grounds (?), but in terms of evidence to put before a court, there was nothing. There then began the race against time to retrieve evidence from the mass of computers and other IT equipment that we seized. It was only at the very end of the permitted period of detention that sufficient evidence was found to justify charges. I know that some in the media were sharpening their pencils, and that if we had been unable to bring charges in that case, there would have been a wave of criticism about the arrests. Barot himself of course eventually pleaded guilty last year and received a 40-year sentence."
In Barot's appeal the Basis of Plea recorded (#13):
"The Crown does not have evidence to contradict a defence contention that no funding had been received, nor any vehicles or bomb-making materials acquired, in furtherance of executing the conspiracy".
Note also the improper use of 'Safety Interviews' without legal representation during the initial detention of the July 21st 'suspects', & also the acknowledged fact that there was plenty of prior surveillance of the accused, yet nothing incriminating was put to the accused, because of an "interviewing strategy".
I could go on, but there ARE miscarriages happening right now (not to mention the abhorent practice of 'control orders' used on people who have not been subject to any charge.
What a sham!
There is not such thing as justice we only have law.
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