The Justice Gap Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Justice Gap
We are The Justice Gap. We are all about law and justice | And the difference between the two.
In this regular podcast we speak to those at the sharp end of the fight for justice. From fighting institutional racism to righting wrongful convictions. Join the conversation at thejusticegap.com
As one of the leading lawyers who represented Iraqi civilians against abuses at the hands of British soldiers Martyn Day believes that justice is yet to be achieved. He joins Jon Robins to discuss the quiet settlement of compensation claims by the Ministry of Defence and the issues surrounding his work with fellow lawyer Phil Shiner. Dami Ojuri interviews Clive Baldwin of Human Rights Watch to get his take.
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Frances Crook believes ‘politicians are still stuck in the 1950s’ when it comes to our criminal justice system. For 35 years, she has been at the helm of the Howard League for Penal Reform, trying to innovate and change the UK’s approach. Her time in charge is, this month, coming to an end. So in the latest episode of the Justice Gap Podcast, Frances joins Calum McCrae to look back at her time as CEO of the charity, the current state of the penal system in the UK and her hopes for the future.
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The Grenfell tower fire in summer 2017 was perhaps one of the most devastating events of modern Britain. 72 lives were lost and countless families torn apart by the fire directly. The first stage of the Grenfell inquiry report said the victims paid “a terrible price for a catastrophic failure of industry and Government”. Beyond the fire itself, Grenfell has caused a miserable ripple effect to those living in buildings that shared similar cladding. Cladding we now know accelerated the fire. The Times reported that more than 3 million people are caught up in what’s becoming known as the cladding scandal, with some leaseholders receiving remediation bills higher than the initial cost of their flats. William Martin is one of those affected. He’s a junior doctor, leaseholder and cofounder of the UK Cladding Action Group. He joined Calum to speak about his situation, the ‘end our cladding scandal’ campaign and the Government’s response.
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Yesterday the convictions of Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson were overturned by the Court of Appeal. They made up half of a group of wrongfully convicted men known as the Stockwell 6. Davidson described the conviction they received in 1972 as a 'total stitch up'. They were accused by the late and now disgraced police officer Derek Ridgewell of attempting to rob him while travelling on the tube from Stockwell station in London.
Last year we reported on the Oval 4’s case, a remarkably similar case, with the same corrupt officer at the centre of it. We thought it was timely to repost that story in light of the Court of Appeals decision in the Stockwell 6 case. Winston Trew, a member of the Oval 4, was dogged in his search for the truth about Ridgewell. A campaign which has gone some way to help overturn a number of cases since. So settle in as we revisit the story of the Oval 4.
‘Kill the Bill’ is the rallying cry of a new movement resisting the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Gracie Bradley, interim director of Liberty, discusses this with Lucy Brisbane in the latest episode of the Justice Gap podcast. They examine why resistance to this Bill, and the broader attack on human rights and civil liberties in this moment, is so urgent and vital.
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Daniel Morgan is a name many will know. It's likely you'll have heard about the private investigator who was assassinated in a pub car park in South London. His unsolved murder has prompted a hit podcast series, a book and a three part channel 4 documentary. Daniel’s case is one of grisly complexity, police corruption and press manipulation, this podcast won't delve into those details. Instead, we’ll focus on the inspiring 34-year campaign for justice and answers with Daniel’s brother Alastair Morgan. On Tuesday the 15th of June, the independent panel looking into the circumstances of Daniel’s murder, the subsequent investigations and the relationships between the police, private investigators and the press will publish its report. That’s 8 years after it was announced by the then home secretary Theresa May. In this free flowing conversation Alastair and I discuss the report, how he has maintained the campaign with such tireless determination and much more.
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A learning disabled woman is, on average, likely to die 27 years before her non-disabled peer. The figure is similar for men. This episode features a conversation with George Julian, an open justice journalist who wants to change what she sees as often preventable premature death. She brings awareness to these cases, by live tweeting coronial inquests. ‘My role is to amplify and broadcast and get what happens out there so there is that public record of what happened’. In this powerful conversation, George argued that the current state of the coronial service was ‘appalling’. She added that ‘the mother blame, the family blame, the blaming the person who has died that goes on’ in what she says is an ‘adversarial process is atrocious’.
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It's probably unlikely that, by now, you won't have heard of the so-called 'SpyCops Scandal'. Central to the complaints of the core participants in the ongoing inquiry into undercover policing was the 'systemic sexism' within the police. Among many other women, Kate Wilson was deceived into a relationship with an undercover cop. The officer she formed a relationship with was called Mark Kennedy, but he posed as Mark Stone and infiltrated a meeting for the mobilisation against the G8 summit in 2005. She described him as charming and disarming, and he quickly became involved in every aspect of her life. But none of it was real. Mark Stone wasn’t real, Mark Kennedy had a wife and two kids and the reason he became involved in her life was to spy on Kate and the groups she belonged to. This week, Wilson’s 10 year fight for the truth brought her case to the investigatory powers tribunal, which examines allegations that the state has misused its surveillance powers. She spoke to Jon Robins, over a somewhat shaky zoom line, about the process, the inquiry and the still remaining trauma of her ordeal.
Oliver Campbell spent 11 years in prison for a murder he and many others, including one of the real perpetrators, say had nothing to do with him. In 1990, Baldev Hoondle was murdered while working at his convenience shop in Hackney, East London. Campbell's baseball cap was found near the scene and he later made a confession while being questioned by police. But expert after expert have deemed Oliver’s case an open and shut, black and white miscarriage of justice. He has learning disabilities, which combined with interviews that 'breached police codes' and the fact there are many inconsistencies within it, make the confession doubtful. And the cap, supporters argue, was actually worn by the real killer. So why, 30 years after the crime for which he was convicted took place is he still considered a murderer? Aren’t cases like Oliver Campbell’s the reason we have a miscarriage of justice watchdog? In this episode of the Justice Gap Podcast, we’ll be looking into the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), and we’ll do so with the help of Oliver story.
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As a human rights lawyer, Harriet Wistrich knows all too well of the importance of protecting defendants rights in criminal trials. But dwindling prosecutions of rape in the last few years has led her to believe we have ‘virtually decriminalised’ the offence in the UK. In January, the Centre for Women’s Justice (CJW), representing the End Violence Against Women Coalition, brought a judicial review agains the CPS. In this week’s episode, Harriet, who is the founder and director of the charity, tells Calum McCrae why they brought that action and the continued importance of putting so-called ‘weaker’ cases in front of a jury.
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Last month the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of the so called Stansted 15. In handing down its judgment, the Lord Chief Justice said 'there was, in truth no case to answer'. The group were convicted in late 2018 under legislation intended for terror related incidents. They're crime? A peaceful protest against the 'brutal' practice of chartered deportations laid on by the Home Office. The excessive charges were authorised by the Attorney General, not questioned by the trial judge and the result was four years of torment for the group of activists. In this episode of The Justice Gap Podcast, we're joined by Emma Hughes, a member of the Stansted 15, and the group's lawyer Raj Chada. We discuss the protest itself, the importance of protecting the right to peaceful dissent, the appeal and much more...
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The Truth About Modern Slavery, by Emily Kenway argues that the framing around modern slavery has been used as an emotive political tool to conceal the damage done by policies moves such the hostile environment. In this episode of The Justice Gap Podcast, Emily spoke to Jon Robins about that and how the political tool, as she puts it, legitimises big brands' exploitation of the poorest workers and oppressing sex workers. The book provides a vital and timely discussion and you can pick it up from Pluto Books if you want to learn more.
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In the week where the Court of Appeal reconsiders the case of the Shrewsbury 24, one of the men convicted and imprisoned back in 1973 speaks to The Justice Gap Podcast. Ricky Tomlinson is probably best known as the idle, but loveable patriarch, Jim Royle, from TV’s the Royle family or as Brookside’s Bobby Grant. But you may not have known that he started his career as a construction worker and played an active role in the first and only ever national construction strikes. Ricky’s involvement in that industrial action landed him a conviction, alongside 23 others, based on ‘lies and fabrication’. In 2017, the miscarriage of justice watchdog, the CCRC refused to refer an application from the Shrewsbury 24 back to the Court of Appeal. A judicial review successfully followed and they finally referred the case in what the chairman of the CCRC, Helen pitcher, described as 'not our finest hour’. Ricky and Calum McCrae discuss the state of the construction industry back in the 70's, the strike itself and the 'political' charges and trials that followed.
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In the early morning of September the 28th, 1985, armed police raided 22 Normandy Road in Brixton. The lead detective Douglas Lovelock had been drinking the night before, they entered with a false sense of danger and the inevitable happened. As Cherry Groce rose from bed to see what was happening, she was shot, leaving her paralysed for the rest of her life and sparking the Brixton uprising of 1985. In this episode of The Justice Gap Podcast Lee Lawrence, the author of the award winning memoir 'The Louder I will Sing' and Cherry Groce’s son, speaks to Calum McCrae about that night, the aftermath and the 'David and Goliath' struggle to finally have the truth heard and recognised.
Imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences have been described as a 'stain' on the criminal justice system. Those were the words of Ken Clarke. The architect of the scheme, David Blunkett expressed regret for the injustices caused by them. So why are there still over 2000 prisoners serving time on these sentences? And why is the despair they cause still not properly acknowledged in the face of such clear evidence? In this episode, Jon Robins speaks to Deborah Coles, executive director of Inquest, and Donna Mooney about her fight for change and acknowledgment after her brother Tommy Nicol committed suicide whilst serving an IPP sentence in 2015.
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In this episode you’ll hear from the indefatigable and charismatic human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC. Called to the bar in 1967, Mansfield quickly built a reputation for standing up for the voiceless. He’s represented victims of tragedies and atrocities, from Hillsborough to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. Michael has worked to free many of the UK’s most notable victims of wrongful convictions, such as the Birmingham 6, the Cardiff 3 and Judith Ward to name a few. He became seen as such a fierce anti-establishment threat, that he too was the focus of unwarranted police surveillance. We touch briefly on his involvement as a core participant in the ongoing spycops inquiry in this slightly more free flowing conversation than the previous episodes. We also cover Grenfell, and the inquiry flowing from the disaster in which Michael is currently engaged. You’ll hear about the current issues within the criminal law that trouble him in relation to miscarriages of justice. But the conversation started with Michael’s take on what this tumultuous year in health and politics means for justice as a whole.
Dave Smith's path into the construction industry was clear; all of his male relatives had followed the same one. Once ensconced within the industry, he became a union rep, and then the work dried up ‘in the middle of a building boom’. He’d been the victim of an illegal practice known as blacklisting. In the second episode of The Justice Gap Podcast, Dave Smith tells Calum McCrae that, though this was devastating, it wasn’t unexpected. Finding out that undercover police were colluding with the blacklisting, definitely was.
Sukhdev Reel is the mother of Ricky Reel, who in October 1997 was found dead in the river Thames after a night out in which he was attacked by racist thugs. The police claimed his death was an accident, but Sukhdev has always believed he was murdered by those same youths who attacked him and his friends that night in Kingston, London. She told The Justice Gap Podcast about how she continues to campaign for justice for Ricky and then how police infiltrated her private life and devastated her family. For the first couple of episodes we are going to focus specifically on the so-called Spycops scandal. The first stage of a public inquiry looking into undercover police operations that spanned over 40 years finished a couple of weeks ago. In 2015, the then home secretary Theresa May announced the judge-led inquiry into “appalling practices in undercover policing”. In the next episode, you'll hear from Dave Smith, of the Blacklist Support Group.
We are The Justice Gap. We are all about law and justice | And the difference between the two.
In this weekly podcast we speak to those at the sharp end of the fight for justice. From fighting institutional racism to righting wrongful convictions. Join the conversation at thejusticegap.com