Appeal Court clears Shrewsbury pickets

The Court of Appeal has overturned the convictions of 14 men sentenced for their involvement in pickets in 1972.

Trade unionists who picketed during the national builders' strike were charged with offences including unlawful assembly and conspiracy to intimidate.

Lawyers for the so-called Shrewsbury 24 had argued the destruction of witness statements made their convictions unsafe.

Lord Justice Fulford said "what occurred was unfair".

The Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson was among those convicted. He was jailed for two years.

Speaking after the verdict, he said: "It is only right that these convictions are overturned."

Six of the 14 who brought the action have since died, including Dennis Warren, who was jailed for three years.

Mr Tomlinson added: "My thoughts today are with my friend and comrade Des Warren.

"I'm just sorry he is not here today so we can celebrate, but I'm sure he's with us in spirit." Some of the appellants at court

Speaking at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Lord Justice Fulford said: "These 14 appeals against conviction are allowed across the three trials and on every extant count which the 14 appellants faced."

But he added: "It would not be in the public interest to order a retrial."

In its written ruling, the Court of Appeal allowed the 14 appellants' appeals on the grounds that original witness statements had been destroyed.

In June 1972, trade unionists called the UK's first-ever national builders' strike in protest against pay, unjust employment practices and dangerous conditions on sites.

Trade unionists travelled to demonstrate from one site to another and in September six coach-loads of strikers demonstrated in Shrewsbury and Telford.

Police arrested none of the demonstrators that day but five months later the picketers were charged and subsequently convicted.

Lord Justice Fulford wrote: "If the destruction of the handwritten statements had been revealed to the appellants at the time of the trial, this issue could have been comprehensively investigated with the witnesses when they gave evidence, and the judge would have been able to give appropriate directions.

"We have no doubt that if that had happened, the trial process would have ensured fairness to the accused. Self-evidently, that is not what occurred.

"By the standards of today, what occurred was unfair to the extent that the verdicts cannot be upheld."

Lawyers had argued the broadcast of a documentary about communism during the trials was "deeply prejudicial", but the Court of Appeal dismissed the claim that the Red under the Bed documentary might have made the verdicts unsafe. 'Serious questions'

Arthur Murray, who was convicted of affray and unlawful assembly and sentenced to six months, said: "We were innocent all along, yet it has taken us nearly 50 years to clear our names.

"Sadly my mother and four of my siblings have passed away without knowing that we were innocent.

"Serious questions need to be asked about the role of the building industry bosses in our convictions and the highest offices of government who all had a hand in our trial and conviction.

"Make no mistake, our convictions were a political witch-hunt."

Mr Tomlinson, from Liverpool, echoed his remarks, saying: "We were brought to trial at the apparent behest of the building industry bosses, the Conservative government and ably supported by the secret state.

"This was a political trial not just of me, and the Shrewsbury pickets - but was a trial of the trade union movement."

Tomlinson and trade unionists in Court of Appeal Ricky Tomlinson's strike conviction to be reviewed Latest news from the West Midlands

Terry Renshaw, a former Flintshire mayor, who was convicted of unlawful assembly, paid tribute to the campaign's researcher, Eileen Turnbull, who worked "tirelessly" to obtain "crucial evidence".

She uncovered a document in the National Archives which were part of the prosecution papers and revealed for the first time police had destroyed some of the original witness statements.

Mr Renshaw added: "It's been 47 years. I'm just so emotional. I didn't think it would hit me like this. I am no longer a criminal."

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Shrewsbury pickets’ case in Court of Appeal,

ON 3-4 February 2021

Posted on Jan 30, 2021 in News

We are delighted to confirm that the pickets appeal will be heard on 3 and 4 February 2021 at the Court of Appeal in the Royal Courts of Justice, London.

The Campaign represents twelve pickets including Des Warren, John McKinsie Jones, Ken O’Shea, Malcolm Clee, Michael Pierce, Terry Renshaw, Kevin Butcher, Bernard Williams, Alfred James, Roy Warburton, Graham Roberts and John Seaburg.

Two other pickets, Ricky Tomlinson and Arthur Murray, withdrew from the campaign and the legal case in 2017 when the Criminal Cases Review Commission turned down our application. The remaining original eight pickets never gave up. With the support of the Campaign and trade unions we successfully challenged the CCRC in a judicial review in April 2019. The CCRC reviewed the case and finally, in March 2020, referred the eight pickets’ convictions to the Court of Appeal. Our success won the right for all the remaining convicted pickets to apply to the CCRC to be added to our case. The families of four further pickets asked the Campaign to support them and we were delighted to submit their applications, which were accepted.

On the back of our success the two who withdrew from the case in 2017, Ricky Tomlinson and Arthur Murray, were able to reapply to the CCRC and had their case referred in May 2020. They have chosen not to re-join their fellow pickets and are represented separately in the court, though their lawyers base their case on the Campaign’s evidence.

The appeal has two grounds based, upon evidence discovered in the National Archives by the Campaign’s Secretary and Researcher, Eileen Turnbull:

(i) original witness statements had been destroyed by the police and this fact had not been disclosed to the defence counsel or the court;

and

(ii) the broadcast of a highly prejudicial documentary on ITV during the first trial, Red under the Bed, the content of which was contributed to by a covert agency within the Foreign Office known as the Information Research Department.

Terry Renshaw, a convicted picket who has campaigned tirelessly for over 40 years, speaking on behalf of the pickets, said,

“We are looking forward to finally having our day in court to show that we were victims of a miscarriage of justice. Without the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign we would not be where we are today. We owe a great debt of thanks to them for the tireless work that they have carried out.”

The Campaign’s Chairperson, Harry Chadwick, took part in the strike in 1972, picketing building sites in the North West. A retired carpenter and longstanding member of UCATT/Unite, he paid tribute to the support that the campaign has had from the labour movement,

“We have had tremendous support from all the trade unions, the TUC and the Labour Party. We will never forget the warm welcome and solidarity shown to us at the events that we have travelled to during the past 15 years. On behalf of the pickets and campaign, a heartfelt thank you.”

Pride & Prejudiced against Shrewsbury Pickets

Ricky Tomlinson’s criminal convictions to be re-examined

Appeal court to look again at case of Royle Family actor after claims he may have been unjustly jailed

Rob Evans

@robevansgdn

Tue 26 May 2020 16.19 BST

THIS WEEK, the Guardian reported that:
Documents discovered in the national archives have shown that a covert Whitehall unit had a “discreet but considerable hand” in the programme by supplying its makers with a large dossier about allegedly leftwing trade unionists.

The criminal convictions of actor Ricky Tomlinson, who starred in the TV comedy the Royle Family, are to be re-examined by appeal court judges after an official body suggested he may have been unjustly jailed.

Tomlinson and other trade unionists have been campaigning for years to clear their names after they were jailed during a strike in the 1970s.  On Tuesday, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the public body that scrutinises alleged miscarriages of justice, announced it had asked the court of appeal to review the cases of Tomlinson and others.

Tomlinson, 80, said it was “good news” and an opportunity to prove that he and 23 other men – known as the Shrewsbury 24 – were prosecuted in what amounted to a politically motivated attack on the trade union movement by the government, police and managers.  He worked as a plasterer in the construction industry before becoming well-known as as an actor in films such as Raining Stones and Riff-Raff.Tomlinson, was jailed in 1973 for two years during a strike after he was convicted of conspiring to intimidate and affray.  He had taken part in the first national building workers’ strike in 1972 to improve wages and safety regimes on sites.  Months after the strike ended, 24 trade unionists were arrested and prosecuted for offences including unlawful assembly, conspiracy to intimidate, affray and threatening behaviour while picketing.  After a series of three trials at Shrewsbury crown court in Shropshire, they were convicted of sentences ranging from three years 'to three months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.  For years, campaigners under the banner of the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign have been gathering evidence seeking to clear the names of those convicted, who believed that they were persecuted in an attempt to suppress trade unionists at a time of increasing workers’ militancy.  The review body’s new decision means that it has to date asked the appeal court to re-examine the cases of 14 of those convicted, having investigated their claims: along with the six referred on Tuesday, eight had been referred in March.

Why can't we know the truth about a strike that happened 40 years ago? | Ricky Tomlinson

 

The CCRC initially refused to send the cases to the court of appeal but changed its decision after a legal challenge by some of the trade unionists.  Helen Pitcher, the CCRC’s chairman, acknowledged: ”Some will think this has not been the commission’s finest hour. ”  The CCRC said its decision was based on fresh evidence arising from a 1973 note that showed that some original statements had been destroyed.  The commission said this had not been shown to the lawyers defending the men at their original trial.  The CCRC also highlighted a television documentary, Red under the Bed, about leftwing trade unionists, which was broadcast during the first trial in 1972.  Lawyers for defendants had unsuccessfully argued at the trial that the documentary had unfairly influenced the jury.Documents discovered in the national archives have shown that a covert Whitehall unit had a “discreet but considerable hand” in the programme by supplying its makers with a large dossier about allegedly leftwing trade unionists.A Whitehall official noted what he called “a good effort” by the Information Research Department, the Foreign Office unit that had been set up during the cold war to produce anti-communist propaganda abroad.After Tomlinson was convicted, he was blacklisted and struggled to land work. He became an actor and got his break in the 1980s when he played Bobby Grant in the Channel 4 drama Brookside.• This article was amended on 28 May 2020 to include a breakdown of the 14 cases so far referred to the CCRC, and to explain the role of the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign in gathering evidence.

Appeal

The Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) has ruled that the Court of Appeal should re-examine the criminal convictions imposed on several of the striking workers, including Tomlinson, who took part in the picket.  That decision by the CCRC was based on new evidence that indicated crucial statements had been destroyed, and of the “way in which the airing of the documentary was handled by the trial judge”.

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How is it that the police can destroy evidence?

Ricky Tomlinson holding a copy of Northern Voices at a Conference of the FBU

YESTERDAY, Brian Reade wrote a piece in the Daily Mirror about Ricky Tomlinson's claim that Richard Whiteley was a spy for MI5.  We produce an excerp below:
'Not convinced? Neither is veteran Shrewsbury 24 researcher, Eileen Turnbull, who believes Tomlinson may have been duped: “I don’t know why Ricky is saying this,” she said.
Well, having recently spoken at length with Ricky, I think I know why. The 77-year-old realises he hasn’t got too many fighting years left, and the lack of a pardon for him and his fellow strikers in the face of overwhelming evidence that they were framed, could be driving him to distraction.
In 1973, Ricky was jailed for two years at Shrewsbury Crown Court, and 23 others convicted, after being found guilty of arcane public order offences during a national building strike against poor pay and Victorian working conditions.
For 44 years, campaigners have insisted the convictions were instigated by Ted Heath’s Tory Government who feared the rise of trade union power.
They have documents suggesting police destroyed witness statements and framed testimony to convict the activists, and that crucial papers are being withheld because they are too damaging and embarrassing to reveal.'
The Royle Family starhad said:
'... had he know of his alleged involvement in the plot when he appeared on Countdown he would have throttled him.'
It looks like Ricky is keen to get this issue of the Shrewsbury Pickets out into the public domain. 

‘Don’t Ask - Tell Them What You’re Entitled To!"

The leading human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC accused the new home secretary of being ‘duplicitous, so far’ following a recent meeting with the Orgreave campaigners. Earlier this month of delegation of former miners met with Amber Rudd calling for an inquiry into a ‘smear campaign’ to expedite politically motivated prosecutions in 1984.

The barrister, who acted for the Hillsborough families at the recent inquest, said the meeting was ‘courteous’ but ‘non-committal’, however the following day the Home Office told the press that a lawyer-led review was likely to be the outcome as opposed to a full blown judicial Inquiry. But Mansfield added: ‘If they shut the door then we open it again.’

The QC was speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour conference in Liverpool organised by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers. The event was entitled ‘The state and political policing: Hillsborough, Orgreave and Shrewsbury 24’.

Read more: Siobhan Taylor-Ward, Justice Gap, http://tinyurl.com/hujb4bf