The Innocents' Brief - Team Comments
Date: Thursday 12 April 2007
Time: BBC 1, 10.35 p.m.
Campbell Malone: Stevensons
"As solicitors for Simon Hall we welcome the decision of the the BBC to highlight the concerns over his conviction for murder as part of their distinguished Rough Justice series."
Through the eyes of a group of law students, members of Bristol University`s Innocence Project, the film follows the progress of the investigation currently being carried out into Simons case.Although the film takes up the story half way through and finishes only at the stage the Criminal Cases Review Commission announced the start of their own detailed investigation we believe it demonstrates , in a fair and measured way, why so many observers believe that Simon Hall is a victim of a serious Miscarriage of Justice.
Simon and those working on his behalf have been encouraged by the decision of the BBC to take up his case and are grateful for the work put into the film by the film makers and those participating in it especially the students. Stephensons have been proud to be supporters of the UK Innocence Project since its inception and it was rewarding for us to have the opportunity of working with the students involved. Having ourselves a policy in place of recruiting and training our lawyers for the future from the most able and committed applicants it was encouraging to see that the future of the profession is in such good hands."
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Dr Michael Naughton: Innocence Network UK, University of Bristol Innocence Project
The BBC Rough Justice programme ‘The Innocents’ Brief’ gave Simon Hall an all too rare opportunity these days to voice his claims of wrongful conviction and imprisonment through the novel lens of a group of undergraduate law students investigating his case under the guidance of an eminent solicitor and barrister and with prominent forensic experts. In this sense, it gives a valuable insight into the practical work that students on innocence projects undertake and the wide-range of support and expertise that they enlist as they interrogate claims of innocence from people convicted or imprisoned for criminal offences that they say they did not commit.
As a one-off, stand-alone programme about an individual case, ‘The Innocents’ Brief’ was not able to provide a broader context to the problem of the wrongful conviction of the innocent, which lies at the very heart of what makes the newly emerging innocence project movement within UK universities unique as a concept. It was unable to provide any information about the Innocence Network UK, why it was established, the hundreds of letters it has received calling for assistance from prisoners maintaining innocence, the support that it has from victim support organisations, practitioners, investigative journalists and forensic scientists, nor the growing number of affiliated innocence projects that are springing up in universities around the country.
The five students that were featured in the programme working on Simon Hall’s case from the University of Bristol Innocence Project are not an isolated group of students looking at a single alleged wrongful conviction case: There are 20 other students working with the University of Bristol Innocence Project investigating 4 other cases; There are over 70 students working with the Cardiff Law School Innocence Project investigating 10 cases; And, there are scores of other students at the other five active innocence projects affiliated to the Innocence Network UK at Cardiff University JOMEC Innocence Project, Anglia Ruskin Innocence Project, the University of Hertfordshire Innocence Project, the Inns of Court, School of Law Innocence Project and the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice Innocence Project. In addition, there are as many as ten other affiliated innocence projects in the pipeline. It is unfortunate that ‘The Innocents’ Brief’ did not have the scope to encapsulate this emerging innocence movement, which could have captured the public imagination as to what is currently occurring in the wider world of wrongful convictions and what can be achieved with national collaboration and people power.
The programme would also have benefited from a narrative about the distinction between a miscarriage of justice and the wrongful conviction of the innocent and the limits of the appeal system to guarantee that all innocent victims of wrongful conviction and/or imprisonment will be able to overturn their convictions. This is despite the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body set up in the wake of notorious cases such as the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six to investigate alleged or suspected miscarriages of justice.
The Innocence Network UK and affiliated innocence projects derive from a sustained critique of the limits of the CCRC. Most significantly, and contrary to popular perceptions, the CCRC was not designed to rectify the errors of the system and ensure that the innocent overturn their wrongful convictions. Instead, their remit under the 1995 Criminal Appeal Act dictates that it seeks to determine if there is a 'real possibility' that the appeal courts will overturn the conviction.
As such, the CCRC will, logically, refer the cases of guilty offenders if their convictions were procedurally incorrect. At the same time, they are often helpless to refer the cases of innocent victims of wrongful conviction if they do not meet the required criteria of fresh evidence or fresh arguments. A particular problem then is that even if the CCRC has evidence that indicates that an applicant is innocent, but this evidence was available at the original trial, the case may not be referred to the appeal courts.
We are aware that there was an urgent need to put a programme together quickly to meet the transmission date. However, if the aforementioned matters could have be accounted for the finished product would have represented a more appropriate insight into the distinct contribution that the Innocence Network UK and affiliated innocence projects seeks to make, in terms of educating students about the limits of the criminal justice process and social justice in terms of contributing to assisting innocent victims overturn their wrongful convictions and effecting improvements of the criminal justice system.
Notes to editors:
1. Dr Michael Naughton is the Founder and Coordinator of the Innocence Network UK and the Founder and Director of the University of Bristol Innocence Project.
2. Mrs Julie Price is the Affiliated Innocence Projects Coordinator, Innocence Network UK and Founder and Coordinator of the Cardiff Law School Innocence Project.
3. The Innocence Network UK exists to raise public awareness of the continuing inability of the criminal justice system to deal adequately with the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of the innocent, despite the creation of the CCRC, to facilitate academic research on the causes of the wrongful conviction of the innocent and the associated consequences, and, to encourage the creation of Innocence Projects in universities in the UK. See: http://www.innocencenetwork.org.uk.
3. Sir Ludovic Kennedy; Michael Manfield QC and Sir Geoffrey Bindman are co-Patrons of the Innocence Network UK.
4. The Innocence Network UK is supported further by the following individuals and organisations: Campbell Malone (Chair, Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association), Mark Newby (Director, Historic Abuse Appeal Panel), Professor Allan Jamieson (Director, The Forensic Institute), Dr Andrew Green (INNOCENT; United Against Injustice) Dennis Eady (South Wales Against Wrongful Convictions), John McManus (Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Scotland)), Hazel Kierle (Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (England)), Margaret Gardener (False Allegations Support Organisation), Bob Woffinden.
Issued by: The Innocence Network UK. Contact: Michael Naughton: Tel: 07890 125 092 E-mail: M.Naughton@bristol.ac.uk; Julie Price: Tel: 07855 662 878 E-mail: Priceja1@Cardiff.ac.uk
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Lynne Hall: Simon's Mother
As Simon's mother I don't think I would ever be totally happy with anything that didn't show and prove Simon's innocence beyond doubt, but one has to be realistic and bearing in mind the legal restrictions adhered to during filming and the lack of cooperation from Suffolk Police which has delayed the necessary forensic work necessary to prove Simon's innocence totally, I think the film has a powerful image of Simon's dilemma in having to fight a system that doesn't allow or recognise miscarriages of justice and how it affected the people involved in fighting his case, plus it begins to show the faults and cracks in the evidence that convicted him.
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Shaun Hall: Simon's Brother
Until now, I had always found it difficult to express in words the exact feelings my family have experienced and situations we have faced throughout my brothers wrongful arrest and conviction. However I believe this film is a stepping stone, showing the frustrations, anger and flaws in today’s legal system and then ultimately leading to the release of Simon.
Simon’s case has been given a massive boost by this program and I wish to personally thank all those involved. I have no doubt that it will lead to good things, and will ultimately leading to the release of Simon. We and Simon are very lucky to have had this opportunity and I hope it has the impact on others as it did myself and hopefully raise question marks around the police investigation and the evidence that was used against him.
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Stephanie Bon: Campaigner
We are very grateful to BBC Rough Justice and to Bristol’s Innocence Project for their contributions and attempt in highlighting the flaws in Simon’s case.
We hope that it will help raise Simon’s profile as well as the fact that miscarriages of justice happen everyday and to anyone!
Simon’s case in now in the hands of the CCRC and as campaigners, we are aware of their limitations and delays in term of investigating potential miscarriages of justice, this is why we still strongly rely on our legal/expert teams, miscarriages of justice organisations as well as our supporters to keep fighting for Simon’s freedom.
Simon Hall is an innocent man who has already had 5 years of his life stolen by the British Legal System so now more than ever it is time for the people in charge to take accountability and rectify their errors!