For over 21 years no-one has been brought to justice for one of Britain’s most notorious murders. Now the CPS is preparing for a trial. On the evening of Monday the 18th January 1993 in an alleyway just off the London Road, New Greenhithe, north Kent, Claire Tiltman, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, was killed in an apparently motiveless attack. The Prosecutors s1e3: The Trial
Colin Ash Smith was not charged. He did however plead guilty to the attack on Charlotte Barnard and to an earlier attack on another woman, and was sentenced to Life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years. Colin Ash Smith remained the prime suspect of Claire Tiltman. ibid.
The [Kevin] Cavendish-Coulson case: ‘A private school in Cheshire was a boarding school and some complainants came forward to say many years ago they had been indecently assaulted by him when they were boys at the school.’ ibid. CPS brief
[Claire] Tiltman: The police took over a thousand witness statements … Colin Ash Smith has now served nineteen years of his life sentence and has applied for parole … They find Colin Ash Smith guilty for the murder of Claire Tiltman … Life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty-one years. ibid.
Keith Cavendish-Coulson is facing 42 counts of indecent count on boys he taught during the 1970s and 1980s. Today he is expected to appear at Chester Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing … ‘He is going to plead guilty’ … ‘6 years and 9 months.’ ibid.
October 2018 the Old Bailey: The prosecution opens the case in the so-called Babes in the Woods murders. Russell Bishop is accused of being responsible for one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved crimes. It’s a case that started over thirty years ago. The Babes in the Wood Murders: The Prosecutors, BBC 2018
1986: ‘Concern is now growing for nine-year-old Karen Hadaway and her friend Nicola Fellows who were last seen at six o’clock last night.’ ibid. BBC news
In 1987 unemployed labourer Russell Bishop was found not guilty of the murders of Brighton schoolgirls Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows. In 2016, nearly 30 years after their deaths, the police decide to question Russell Bishop again. ibid.
‘That’s Russell Bishop’s DNA present on that tape from Karen’s forearm.’ ibid. rozzer technician
‘A man in his 30s with a moustache grabbed her, threatened to kill her and bundled her into the back of his car.’ ibid. BBC news
‘We’ve had to fight and struggle for 32 years.’ ibid. mother of victim
Russell Bishop will face trial once again in October 2018. ibid.
There is no justice, only conquest. House of Cards US s5e7: Chapter 59, Frank to Claire, Netflix 2017
We believe in Biblical justice round here. Lilyhammer s3e8: Loose Ends, Johnny, Netflix 2014
The confession was king and police were a law unto themselves. Catching Britain’s Killers: The Crimes that Changed Us III ***** introduction, BBC 2019
A miscarriage of justice so shocking it exposes the dark secrets of the police interrogation room and transforms the rights of us all. ibid.
‘Establishing time of death is terribly important: it is absolutely vital to get it right or the wrong people could finish up begin conviction.’ ibid. Dr Cameron
Radio Times: After the body of Maxwell Confait was found in his south London bedsit in April 1972, three boys were quickly arrested and questioned. Confait had been strangled, and the trio – Colin Lattimore (18) who had learning difficulties, Ronnie Leighton, 15, and Ahmet Salih, 14 – confessed their supposed involvement to police. ibid.
In the early 1970s the questioning of a suspect often took place in a cellblock, and with no independent witness, the only version of what was said came from the police themselves. The three boys were taken to Lewisham police station. ibid.
All three boys were being tried for arson, but Colin and Ronnie were also standing trial for the murder. They all pleaded their not guilty and protested their innocence. ibid.
‘The confession had been obtained under threats, duress, without strong strong evidence … The police behaved badly.’ ibid. brief
‘Colin’s alibi was absolutely superb.’ ibid.
Life sentences with no time limit. ibid.
The Fisher Inquiry set out to discover how the boys could have confessed to something they didn’t do. ibid.
‘The police were absolutely hostile to begin with.’ ibid. Justice lady
New evidence emerged January 1980: a prison inmate was overheard discussing his and another inmate’s involvement in the crime. ibid.
‘One of the most serious miscarriages of justice in legal history.’ ibid. BBC news
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984: Pace. ibid. BBC news
The police culture of a previous era persisted. ibid. BBC news
Four years after Pace, a case in Cardiff would publicly expose the dangers of a police service that still chased confessions. On Valentine’s Day 1988 20-year-old Lynette White was found stabbed to death in her flat in Butetown near the Cardiff docks. 10 months later her ex-partner Stephen Miller was arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned at Cardiff police station. After five days of interrogation he confessed to Lynette White’s murder … At his trial Miller was found guilty of murder along with two other men both implicated by his taped confession … ‘They’ve become known as the Cardiff 3: serving a prison sentence for life for a murder they say they didn’t commit.’ ibid. television news
Poverty is a problem. It destroys families; it creates a harsh reality for one to live in. So I’d like to say that knowing the odds are against you, use this rage for motivation. Only then will we be able to break the vicious cycle of racism, and the modern-day slavery which is dressed up as the Justice System. Storyville: Jailed in America ***** Roger Ross Williams, inmate Massachusetts
Since 1967, an estimated 800,000 Palestinians have been arrested, tried and imprisoned with and without due process in civil and military courts for resisting Israeli occupation. Lea Tsemel has defended tens of thousands of them. Storyville: Advocate: A Lawyer Without Borders, caption, BBC 2020
A rebel with a lost cause. ibid. Lea
I always see the person behind the case. ibid.
You defend terrorists and their families. I imagined you differently, taller and tougher. ibid. Israeli TV presenter 1999
I’ve been called every name in the book. ibid. Lea
In June 1967 I was a law student. Suddenly, one morning, shells started exploding. ibid.
Justice has nothing to do with the truth. It’s a game. With ridiculous rules. The Trial of Christine Keeler VI, Brief to Christine
‘Empire-building throughout history is the result of conquest – the use or threat of a superior military force. The US global empire is no exception … They cite imperial legal doctrine to justify their intervention to suppress a subject people in revolt. While empires arose through the direct or indirect use of unbridled force, the maintenance and consolidation of empires requires a legal framework … Legality is really an extension of imperial conquest by other means.’ Professor James Petras, cited The Corbett Report: International Law, James Corbett online 2013
Slowly the American people may be reflecting that, after almost four decades of the War on Drugs, dependency levels and usage are higher than ever before; the price of all major recreational drugs has been declining resolutely over that period; and the state has wasted hundreds of billions of dollars in a criminal-justice system that delivers a lot of crime, but very little justice. Misha Glenny, McMafia
Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Julian Assange refused permission to appeal against US extradition by UK’s top court: Assange is wanted in America following Wikileaks’ publication of classified files:
Britain’s top court has refused Wikipeaks’ founder Julian Assange permission to appeal against a decision to extradite him to the US to face spying charges.
A Supreme Court spokesperson said that senior judges had refused Assange’s bid to challenge the decision as his case did not raise ‘an arguable point of law’. Independent online article 14 March 2022