Henry Blaxland KC of Garden Court Chambers Crime Team acted for Errol Campbell, instructed by Matt Foot of APPEAL.
The Court of Appeal has quashed the convictions of Errol Campbell and Ronald De Souza after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) conducted a series of investigations into the historical misconduct of British Transport Police officer DS Derek Ridgewell.
Henry Blaxland KC represented Errol Campbell in the appeal who was wrongfully convicted in 1977 of theft and conspiracy to steal from The Bricklayers Arms Goods Depot in London, following operations conducted by DS Ridgewell.
Quoted in the BBC, Henry stated:
“[The court is] dealing with victims of miscarriage of justice brought about by “state crime”. [The case] “throws a shadow over the administration of justice and led to loss of confidence not only in the police, but in the legal system as a whole”.
Errol was a British Rail employee at the Depot and was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment.
Following their investigations, the CCRC had found DS Ridgewell to have fabricated evidence leading to many wrongful convictions, and racist miscarriages of justice – falsely accusing mostly young, Black men of theft and robbery offences.
DS Ridgewell later pleated guilty to stealing from the Bricklayers Arms Goods Deport, and was jailed for stealing over £1 million pounds worth of goods.
Errol Campbell passed away in 2004, and the application to the CCRC was made on behalf of his family, assisted by APPEAL.
The appeal has received widespread news coverage, including in BBC News, The Guardian, ITV News
