Robert Brown case

Robert Brown is a Scottish man who spent 25 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. In January 1977, Annie Walsh was beaten to death in her home in Manchester, England and Brown was first interrogated and beaten by the police officers investigating this crime. Under duress, Brown signed a confession and was found guilty at trial. He maintained his innocence throughout his prison sentence even going so far as denying himself parole by not admitting to the crime. He was released on appeal in 2002 and is thought to be one of the longest serving victims of a miscarriage of justice in the United Kingdom.

Robert Brown
Born1957 (age 62–63)
NationalityScottish
Other namesLittle Mad Rab
(prison nickname)[1]
Known forWrongful conviction of murder

Background

Brown grew up in Kilbowie in Dumbartonshire and was placed into care when he was nine years old[2] by his mother after he witnessed his dad beating her up.[1] At the age of 15 he took himself out of care and returned home where he and his father "came to blows". His dad threw him out soon afterwards.[1] Brown admits that he partook in a life of petty crime. He later moved to Manchester to make "a fresh start" after going to a football match in the city.[3] Whilst in Manchester he met a girl, Cathy Shaw, who later became his girlfriend.[4]

On 31 January 1977, factory worker Annie Walsh, who was 51 at the time, was found battered to death in her flat in Charles Barry Crescent, Hulme, Greater Manchester[5][6] by a man who had come to read the electricity meter.[1] She had been hit over the head sixteen times and her blood was splattered over the furniture, walls and ceiling.[7] A Home Office pathologist estimated that she had lain undiscovered for two to three days after the murder, (she was last seen alive on 28 January 1977).[4][8] Police were so concerned about the frenzied nature of the attack that they consulted mental units in case someone had escaped.[9]

In May 1977, the police went to the flat that Brown shared with his girlfriend Cathy; it was in the same block of flats where Annie Walsh had lived and been murdered.[1] He was originally arrested for non-payment of a fine[10] and was taken in for questioning without his rights being read to him and held for 32 hours without legal representation.[note 1][11][12] At the trial, Brown stated that the confession was beaten and coerced out of him and when he did ask for a lawyer, he was told by the policemen that "only guilty men need a lawyer".[9]

The trial was presided over by Judge Helenus Milmo who directed the jury's attention to the fact that it came down to whether or not they believed the police, or whether they believed Brown was innocent.[13] The jury convicted Brown of murder and Judge Milmo sentenced him to life with a minimum term of 15 years.[11]

Appeals

Brown appealed the sentencing in 1978, but the appeal was turned down.[14] An appeal was lodged again with then Home Secretary, Michael Howard in 1993, but this was also denied in the following year.[15]

Whilst in prison, Brown was caught in what Simon Hattenstone, writing in The Guardian, describes as "the Miscarriage of Justice Catch-22" (the Innocent prisoner's dilemma); because he would not admit his guilt in the crime for which he was imprisoned, he could not be rehabilitated and be deemed fit to be put in front of a parole board.[7] Brown refused the chance of parole from a point of view that investigative journalist Eamonn O'Neill called a point of logic; "how could he be paroled for a crime that he did not commit?".[16]

Whilst in prison, Brown shared a cell with Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, who, after having his conviction quashed and then released, later campaigned against Brown's miscarriage of justice. The case was again referred to the Court of Appeal in 2002 by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).[14]

Release

An appeal court in November 2002 decided that Brown should be allowed to go free after declaring his conviction unsafe. The appeal was due to be heard over two days, but the judges at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, quashed the conviction within minutes when the Counsel for the Crown explained that he could not argue the case on the evidence presented before the court; the appeal lasted only 18 minutes before it was deemed an 'unsafe conviction'.[9][17]

The appeal court had heard evidence that the fibres on Walsh's coat had not matched to Brown, but to another man who was questioned about the murder at the same time. This evidence was not given in court.[18] Linguistic analysis of Brown's confession was given in evidence stating that it could not have been dictated to the police officers by Brown as the police had said.[19][20] A pair of blood-soaked jeans had also been used against Brown in his interrogation with the police claiming they were the ones that Brown had used in the murder. In fact, they belonged to a woman who had suffered a miscarriage in them and the police knew this.[7] The sight of the jeans being presented in court made Brown burst into tears as he had known the woman who had had the miscarriage in them; this was misinterpreted as guilt of the murder on his part by the people in the court.[4]

The three judges presiding over Brown's 2002 appeal heard evidence which, in their summing up, prompted them to describe the arresting officers in Brown's case to be part of a "culture of corruption and a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice".[21]

Detective Superintendent Peter Topping of Greater Manchester Police had written a report in the 1980s detailing corruption practices within the force during the 1970s and beyond. Despite the report containing circumstantial evidence that could have alleviated Brown's time in prison, it was not made available to his legal team until a few days before the Court of Appeal quashed his conviction because of a Public-Interest Immunity certificate concerning the report.[8][22]

Aftermath

Since his release, Brown has been campaigning for reforms to the legal system.[23] He was also given compensation for his 25-year prison sentence, of which the government demanded back £100,000 for which they deemed payment for bed and board whilst he was in prison.[15] Brown is believed to be one of the longest serving victims of a miscarriage of justice in the United Kingdom.[24]

Cathy Shaw, Brown's girlfriend in 1977, died in 1992 at the age of 35 from alcohol poisoning. Brown and Shaw's family both attribute her death to how his conviction affected her.[3][4]

It was later revealed that Brown could not take legal action against any of the police officers who were responsible for his fake confession or beatings. An investigation found "insufficient evidence" of misconduct in relation to Brown's detention, interviews or arrest.[23] Detective Chief Inspector Jack Butler was sentenced to four years in jail after being found guilty of accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice in 1983, but that was in relation to another case not related to Robert Brown's.[25] At Brown's Court of Appeal hearing in 2002, his defending counsel said of Butler that "not only was he involved in corruption himself but he presided over a conspiracy of corruption amongst other officers at Platt Lane police station [in Fallowfield, Manchester] between 1973 and 1979."[26][27] Butler resigned from the police force in 1983.[28]

In September 2004, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) informed Robert Brown that there would be no prosecution of the police officers involved in his arrest and interrogation.[29] In the same year, Channel 4 screened a documentary about Brown's case which was entitled Picking Up the Pieces.[30][31] A review in The Guardian described it as "searing stuff".[32]

In early 2005, Greater Manchester Police announced that they had reopened the investigation into Annie Walsh's murder.[33]

Notes
  1. Some sources state 36 hours.
gollark: (I don't really support this and it is a terrible idea please do not implement this)
gollark: Extra source of revenue for the government.
gollark: THIS IDEA COULD NOT POSSIBLY FAIL.
gollark: Better idea: 1$ per vote!
gollark: The zerbo proposal also has the ambiguity issue.

References
  1. "He spent 25 years in jail for a murder he didn't commit. Now Robert Brown wants revenge". Herald Scotland. 1 March 2003. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. "Innocent man jailed for 25 years for crime he did not commit calls for justice reform". Herald Scotland. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  3. Brocklehurst, Steven (10 September 2017). "Locked up for life for crimes they didn't commit". BBC News. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  4. "Murder, lies, corruption and a life inside". The Scotsman. 7 July 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  5. "Fight for "justice" after 25 years". Manchester Evening News. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. "25-year-old murder inquiry re-opened". BBC News. 4 February 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  7. Hattenstone, Simon (10 March 2003). "The extraordinary story of Robert Brown". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  8. "Free at last from the abyss of hell Robert Brown served 25 years for murder he did not commit". HeraldScotland. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  9. "'There was no apology'". The Scotsman. 15 November 2002. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  10. "Murder probe reopens - 25 years on". Manchester Evening News. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  11. "Bail denied to 1977 murderer". BBC News. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  12. "Killer's confession 'false'". The Scotsman. 9 April 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  13. Hopkins, Nick (14 November 2002). "Man wrongly convicted of murder freed after 25 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  14. "Killer's case goes to appeal". BBC News. 12 June 2002. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  15. "Innocent man jailed for 25 years for crime he did not commit calls for justice reform". Herald Scotland. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  16. O'Neill, Eamonn (21 June 2002). "Will Robert Brown ever be released?". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  17. "'Find who really did kill Annie'". Manchester Evening News. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  18. "'Corrupt police behind false conviction'". BBC News. 13 November 2002. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  19. "Conviction quashed – after 25 years in jail". The Yorkshire Post. 13 November 2002. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  20. Coulthard, Malcolm; Johnson, Alison (2007). An introduction to forensic linguistics : language in evidence (1 ed.). London: Routledge. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-415-32023-8.
  21. Naughton, Michael (2013). "2: Perspectives and Definitions". The innocent and the criminal justice system : a sociological analysis of miscarriages of justice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-230-21690-7.
  22. "Run for freedom". Manchester Evening News. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  23. "Justice victims call for support". BBC News. 1 February 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  24. "New hunt for killer in 1977 case". Manchester Evening News. 9 August 2004. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  25. "Calls to reopen murder probe". Manchester Evening. 7 May 2005. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  26. Pook, Sally (14 November 2002). "Victim of corrupt police freed after 25 years in jail". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  27. "Court quashes murder conviction". Manchester Evening News. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  28. "Man wrongly jailed for 25 years unhappy with police inquiry". The Scotsman. 6 June 2003. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  29. Allison, Eric (29 September 2004). "No action on police corruption". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  30. "Heartbreak in justice battle". Manchester Evening News. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  31. Ciallella, Rebecca (June 2003). "Picking Up the Pieces: Robert". imdb.com. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  32. Banks-Smith, Nancy (23 July 2004). "The Real Bangkok Hilton | Picking Up the Pieces". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  33. "Police reopen 1977 murder case". Manchester Evening news. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
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