Three Black men convicted 47 years ago on evidence submitted by a corrupt detective have now been cleared of the charges by senior judges.
The trio — Winston Trew, Sterling Christie and George Griffiths — now in their late 60s, were arrested, alongside another man at Oval underground station in 1972 by police who framed them of stealing handbags.
They were arrested by a patrol known as “the mugging squad”, which was set up to target thefts on London’s Northern line.
After a controversial trial, the four men who became known as the “Oval Four” were convicted and jailed for two years.
Now, 47 years later, the court of appeal has overturned the convictions due to the unreliability of a detective’s evidence.
“We would wish only to note our regret that it has taken so long for this injustice to be remedied,” said lord chief justice Lord Burnett.
The men, who belonged to a political organization representing Black people in London, were aged between 19 and 23 at the time.
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Christie and Griffiths’ lawyer Jenny Wiltshire welcomed the decision, but said it was “deeply concerning that it has taken so long to happen”.
“Both the British transport police and the Home Office were warned about this police officer’s corrupt methods in 1973,” Wiltshire said.
“But even then the police did not think to review his past cases. Had they done so, these innocent men’s lives would likely have been very different.”
