The Stockwell Six are a group of black British men who were put on trial for attempted robbery in 1972.[1][2][3] Five of them were convicted, but in 2021 the convictions for four of them were overturned.[1][2][3][4][5]

Arrests

Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson were arrested on the London Underground in February 1972 after travelling from Stockwell tube station.[3] They were aged from 17 to 20 at the time.[3][1]

Trial

They were tried on charges of assault with intend to rob British Transport Police Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell.[6][1] Ridgewell claimed that Courtney Harriot and his friends has accosted him on an underground train between Stockwell and Oval tube station.[6] Ridgewell claimed that Harriot had snapped fingers at him and said "Give me some bread, man" then produced a knife and said "Your wallet or it's this!".[6]

Ridgewell claimed he then drew his truncheon, then knocked the knife out of Harriot's hand as other undercover officers entered from adjoining compartments.[6] He claimed that Harriot shouted "Fuzz!".[6]

All six defendants pleaded not guilty and testified that the alleged incident had never happened and that they had been arrested at Oval tube station.[6][1] They testified that police had threatened them, been violent and put words in their mouths.[6][1]

Verdict

Paul Green was convicted of assault with intent to rob and sent to Borstal.[6] Courtney Harriot was sentenced to three years in prison.[6] Cleveland Davidson, Texo Johnson and Ronald De’Souza were convicted of related offences and Everet Mullins was found not guilty.[6]

Campaigns

In 1973 the BBC television programme Nationwide investigated the case and concluded that Ridgewell's account couldn't be true, as there was not enough time for the events to happen in an Underground stop that took place in less than two minutes.[6]

Ridgewell

Ridgewell was involved in a number of controversial high-profile cases in the early 1970s, until the "Tottenham Court Road Two" were acquitted in 1973.[1] He was then moved into a department investigating mailbag theft where he worked with two criminals to split material stolen from mailbags.[1]

He hid the profits of his crimes in five bank accounts, one in Zurich and a bank deposit box.[7]

He stole over £1m sterling (approx £4m sterling in 2021).[7] Although just a detective sergeant, he owned property and businesses.[7]

Ridgewell was convicted of theft in 1980 and sentenced to seven years.[1][7]

Convictions overturned

In July 2021 Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson were acquitted at the Royal Courts of Justice.[1] The two other members of the Stockwell Six who were convicted had not then been traced.[1] In November 2021 Texo Johnson‘s conviction was also quashed by the Court of Appeal.[5]

Sir Julian Flaux sat with Mr Justice Linden and Mr Justice Wall and said "It is most unfortunate that it has taken nearly 50 years to rectify the injustice suffered by these appellants.".[1] He added "These appeals are allowed and the convictions are quashed."[1]

The governor of Ford prison asked Ridgewell why he had committed crimes, to which Ridgewell replied "I just went bent".[7]

Aftermath

Cleveland Davidson said after the hearing: "For 50 years, it affected me … I haven’t been the same. My family didn’t believe me, no one believed me because they thought ‘well, you must’ve done something’. We just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a bad, corrupt police officer."[3] He described Ridgewell as a "corrupt and wicked and evil police officer".[3]

In November 2021, Lucy D'Orsi, the British Transport Police chief constable, apologised to black community in the United Kingdom "for the trauma suffered by the British African community through the criminal actions" of Ridgewell, adding that "In particular, it is of regret that we did not act sooner to end his criminalisation of British Africans, which led to the conviction of innocent people", and said his actions did "not define the BTP of today".[8]

See also

  • Oval Four – four other men convicted by testimony of Ridgewell and who successfully appealed against their convictions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Stockwell Six: 1970s convictions of three black men overturned by UK Court of Appeal". TheJournal.ie. Press Association. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Stockwell Six: Three men have 1972 convictions quashed by Court of Appeal". BBC News. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rawlinson, Kevin (6 July 2021). "Three members of Stockwell Six cleared after nearly 50 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Stockwell Six: Texo Johnson's conviction quashed at Court of Appeal". BBC News. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Fourth member of Stockwell Six has conviction quashed 50 years after arrest". The Guardian. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Campbell, Duncan (14 December 2020). "'Stockwell Six': two men could have convictions overturned". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Campbell, Duncan (1 May 2021). "A real Line of Duty: the London police officer who 'went bent'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Gayle, Damien; Mohdin, Aamna (5 November 2021). "British Transport Police apologise to UK black community for corrupt ex-officer". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
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