Supergrass is a British slang term for an informant who turns King's evidence , often in return for protection and immunity from prosecution . In the British criminal world, police informants have been called "grasses" since the late 1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those who witnessed against fellow criminals in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.
98-547: The West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was a police unit in the English West Midlands which operated from 1974 to 1989. It was disbanded after an investigation into allegations of incompetence and abuse of power on the part of some of the squad's members. Some of this misconduct resulted in wrongful convictions , including the high-profile case of the Birmingham Six . The sister Regional Crime Squad based at Bilston
196-648: A "Millennium City". The Forensic Science Service , Linpac , Lafarge Cement UK and IMI plc are on the Birmingham Business Park in Bickenhill . The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is just north. ZF Lemförder UK 's site at Bickenhill makes axle modules for Land Rover. Newey and Eyre , Britain's largest electrical wholesaler, is at Sheldon. Neopost UK is off the A452. Goodrich UK is in Shirley . TRW Conekt have
294-541: A "grass" or "grasser" tells the "copper" or policeman. In Northern Ireland , the term "supergrass" especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary , possibly in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Sir John Hermon , former Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary , did not deny reports that inducements were paid but denied figures as high as £50,000 were involved. The use of
392-503: A certain amount of arrogance when dealing with other investigators. Recruitment was usually through choice rather than open recruitment. The SCS was an all male, probably wholly white unit; officers tended to serve for long periods rather than move regularly, and were allowed to work very long overtime hours. These factors may have together reinforced an insular culture. There are also recorded incidents of bullying of officers who reported malpractice. The general West Midlands interview manual
490-495: A getaway car's carpet. In the case of Robert Burston and others, police were said to have taken bin liners with their fingerprints and placed them in a post office van. Keith Twitchell claimed his hairs were planted as evidence, although this was not used in court. During the PCA inquiry, seven police notebooks were found to be missing, despite it being a requirement for these to be kept secure for seven years. Six arrest files out of 658 for
588-525: A good local infrastructure. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the Middle Ages , with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of small arms , whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of
686-535: A height of 227 metres (745 ft). There are 23 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the county. One of these SSSIs is Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield, which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres). As a result, it is one of the largest urban parks in Europe, and the largest outside of a capital city in Europe. The park also has national nature reserve status. There are numerous rivers that pass through
784-676: A main automotive engineering research centre at The Green Business Park in Shirley Heath. The Mormons (Latter Day Saints) have their European HQ in Solihull. The UK's VAT Registration Service , for Value Added Tax is at HMRC in Wolverhampton. Flint Ink UK in the east of the town centre, was the largest ink supplier in the British Empire , before being bought in 1998. Turner Powertrain Systems
882-496: A new forensic technique, using a machine known as an ESDA, or Electrostatic Detection Apparatus . The technique allowed forensic experts to trace impressions made on sheets of paper underneath the original, often showing when words or lines had been added to original statements. The first of the cases using this evidence was that of Paul Dandy, in 1987. In January 1989 Clare Short , MP for Birmingham Ladywood , raised in Parliament
980-431: A solicitor. Arrests often took place very early in the morning, which is often standard police practice to ensure suspects are easily located, but would have made them disorientated at interview. Irregular, long and early hours would also have affected police performance. Kaye's analysis of 1980s case evidence found that no confession evidence was produced when a solicitor was present. He also found that access to solicitors
1078-403: A solicitor. In one case, George Lewis, the custody sheet has a line marking the paper where his hand has clearly been knocked to prevent him striking out the statement saying he had agreed not to have a solicitor present. In another case, Charles Campbell, his solicitor Mr Shipley obtained the agreement of the police that no interview was to take place without his presence, but Campbell's confession
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#17328513459081176-400: A statement. He claimed that an unknown officer entered his cell, beat him up and told him to make a statement. He was later visited by a doctor who recorded that he had blood stains on his T-shirt and trousers, blood clots in his nostrils and minor facial injuries, consistent with his account of being hit in the face. The officer was never identified, although Boswell gave a description of him at
1274-529: A strongly rural character. A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley . The highest point in the West Midlands is Turners Hill , with a height of 271 m (889 ft). The hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Barr Beacon is another hill in the West Midlands, located on the border of Birmingham and Walsall, with
1372-562: A year, and made 579 arrests. However, annual reports emphasise that the seriousness of the crimes rather than the quantity was the key factor in performance. The squad dealt with the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, bringing its work to national attention. It continued to deal with anti-terrorist investigations until 1979, when a separate squad was formed. This meant that the SCS had to reorient its own work primarily towards armed robberies. Also in 1979,
1470-492: Is Arthur Gardner's crime novel Tinker's Kitchen , published in 1932, in which a "grass" is defined as "an informer". The etymology of "grass" being used as signifying a traitor, a person who informs on people he or she knows intimately, ostensibly can be traced to the expression "snake in the grass", which has a similar meaning. The phrase derives from the writings of Virgil (in Latin , latet anguis in herba ) and has been known in
1568-433: Is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham . The county is almost entirely urban, with an area of 902 km (348 sq mi) and a population of 2,919,600, making it
1666-520: Is alleged to have asked Fitzsimmons to claim that Bolden's solicitors had offered him a bribe to give evidence to help Bolden. Hassan Khan claimed that he was told during his journey back from arrest in North Wales, that he would be beaten up and treated in the same way as the Birmingham Six, and was going to meet the person who dealt with them. Eileen McCabe, the sister of supergrass Albert, said she
1764-460: Is also used for the much larger West Midlands region , which sometimes causes confusion. Geographically the county is on the eastern side of the region, the western side comprising Shropshire and Herefordshire and the southern side comprising Worcestershire and Warwickshire . Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry as well as developing
1862-665: Is based in the West Midlands. The national headquarters of One Stop is in Brownhills , at Clayhanger . Poundland is in Willenhall . Wedge Group , based in Willenhall, is the largest hot dip galvanising company in the UK. Assa Abloy UK (and Yale UK, former Yale & Towne), is also in Willenhall, as the town is known for manufacture of locks. A.F. Blakemore , supplies most of the SPAR shops in
1960-556: Is home to numerous sports teams. In rugby union , the West Midlands is home to various clubs including Wasps RFC , Birmingham Barbarians, Sutton Coldfield RFC , Moseley Rugby Football Club , Birmingham & Solihull RFC , and Coventry RFC . In rugby league , the Midlands Hurricanes are the only team from the county playing in the professional ranks, currently in the third tier League 1 . In association football , there are six Premier League and Football League teams in
2058-525: Is one of the largest urban parks in Europe. The area between Solihull and Coventry is part of the Forest of Arden , and the rivers Sowe and Sherbourne flow through Coventry. The metropolitan county exists in law, as a geographical frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county . As such it has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff . Between 1974 and 1986, the West Midlands County Council
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#17328513459082156-475: Is the world market leader for transmissions for backhoe loaders , mini excavators telescopic handlers , and site dumpers is further south, near Dunstall Hill . Tata Steel (former site of British Steel Seamless Tubes until 1995) have their Wednesfield Steelpark (built in 1999) on the Walsall boundary. Essar Steel UK in west Dudley, is the largest independent steel toll processor in the UK. Hadley Group near
2254-713: The Birmingham Bullets and are currently based at a facility provided by the University of Wolverhampton in Walsall. The West Midlands has its own Quidditch team, West Midlands Revolution (after its part in the Industrial Revolution ), which won the Quidditch Premier League in 2017. 52°30′N 1°50′W / 52.500°N 1.833°W / 52.500; -1.833 Supergrass (informant) The first known use of "grass" in that context
2352-542: The Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution , and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. 1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of county boroughs with municipal boroughs and urban district councils in between
2450-938: The District of Lichfield , Staffordshire . Further boundary changes came into effect in 1995, when part of the Hereford and Worcester parish of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir ) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the county. On 17 June 2016, a new administrative body, the West Midlands Combined Authority was created for the county, under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 , which created several other combined authorities in England. The new body has powers over transport, economic development, skills and planning. A new directly elected position of Mayor of
2548-696: The Warwickshire Constabulary . The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation. The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall ; Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell
2646-542: The West Midlands Combined Authority . The county was historically part of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The west of the county encloses the valley of the River Tame and its tributaries; the highest point of the surrounding area is Turners Hill , at 271 metres (889 ft). West Midlands contains the Sutton Park Site of Special Scientific Interest , which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres) and
2744-652: The second most populous county in England after Greater London . After Birmingham (1,144,919) the largest settlements are the cities of Coventry (345,324) and Wolverhampton (263,700), Solihull (126,577), and Sutton Coldfield (109,899). Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to the West Midlands and Coventry built-up areas, though the ' Meriden Gap ' between them is rural. For local government purposes West Midlands comprises seven metropolitan boroughs : Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley , Sandwell , Solihull , Walsall , and Wolverhampton. They collaborate through
2842-529: The 1980s, there were concerns about the safety of the Birmingham Six convictions. Chris Mullin campaigned as an MP to see their convictions reviewed. Concerns about the Bridgewater Four, who had been investigated by the sister No 4 Regional Crime Squad, were investigated by Paul Foot . A number of cases had been overturned in the 1980s and several members of the squad were seen to be unreliable witnesses. However, concerns were given particular credence due to
2940-888: The Chief Constable Geoffrey Dear , and the West Yorkshire Police was asked by the Police Complaints Authority to investigate the squad's activities from 1986 onwards. This meant that the Birmingham Six case was out of scope, as was that of the Bridgewater Four, although there was cross over of staff with the regional squad. The West Yorkshire Police reported in 1994, leading to disciplinary action against seven officers, but recommended against prosecutions for lack of evidence. Ten officers had avoided disciplinary action by leaving or retiring early, while around 100 received advice about police procedures. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Barbara Mills agreed with
3038-483: The English language, meaning "traitor", since the late 17th century. An alternative claim is made for the term originating from rhyming slang , whereby "grasshopper" is defined as "copper", meaning "policeman". The rhyming slang version was supported in 1950 by lexicographer Paul Tempest, who wrote Grasser. One who gives information. A "squealer" or "squeaker". The origin derives from rhyming slang: grasshopper – copper;
West Midlands Serious Crime Squad - Misplaced Pages Continue
3136-639: The SCS moved to share offices with other West Midlands police units in Lloyd House . In 1979–80, the SCS investigated a spate of armed robberies known as the 'Thursday Robberies' because they always took place on Thursdays. The gang was known as the Thursday Gang by the police. The SCS and the Robbery Squads worked together to catch the criminals responsible in Operation Cat . The 1991 Independent Report into
3234-453: The SCS states that "many Midlands solicitors we have spoken to believe [this operation] gave the green light to some officers ... to indulge in serious malpractice". The arrests included Ronald, Donald, and John Brown , whose convictions were later quashed. After the murder of a security guard in 1980, SCS arrested two alleged criminals for armed robbery, John Irvine and Keith Twitchell, whose convictions were also later quashed. By 1982,
3332-606: The Soho Foundry is the largest cold roll forming manufacturer in the UK. Caparo Precision Tubes in Oldbury, is the UK's largest producer of electric resistance welded (ERW) steel tubes, and Wellman Group make boilers to the west. Metsec , east of Oldbury, is one of the UK's largest cold roll-forming companies. The AA have a main office in Rounds Green , west of Oldbury. 2 Sisters Food Group , Britain's largest processor of chicken,
3430-586: The UK. The West Midlands contains ten universities, seven of which are located in Birmingham: Both of Coventry University and the University of Warwick are located in Coventry whilst University of Wolverhampton is located in Wolverhampton with campuses in Telford and Walsall . Each of the local authorities has at least one further education college for students aged over 16, and since September 1992 all of
3528-489: The UK. Birmingham , Wolverhampton , the Black Country and Solihull together form the third most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom with a combined population of around 2.44 million. However, the West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by a stretch of green belt land approximately 13 miles (21 km) across, known as the " Meriden Gap ", which retains
3626-540: The West Midlands was created in 2017 to chair the new body. The first Mayoral election was held in May 2017, and the position was won by Andy Street of the Conservative Party . The West Midlands is a landlocked county that borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north and west. The West Midlands County is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in
3724-709: The West Midlands , a position currently held by Richard Parker of the Labour Co-op . Other county-wide bodies include the West Midlands Police , the West Midlands Fire Service and Transport for West Midlands . The county is sometimes described as the "West Midlands metropolitan area " or the " West Midlands conurbation " or "Greater Birmingham", although these have different, less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation or urban area does not include Coventry, for example. The name "West Midlands"
3822-446: The West Midlands is divided into districts called metropolitan boroughs . There are seven boroughs in the West Midlands, six of which are named after the largest settlement in their administrative area. The West Midlands is unusual amongst the metropolitan counties in that three of its boroughs have city status ; Coventry is a city by ancient prescriptive usage , Birmingham was granted city status in 1889, and Wolverhampton in 2000 as
3920-546: The West Midlands metropolitan area by the Redcliffe-Maud Report . The 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new West Midlands Police service was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces. West Midlands
4018-584: The abolition of the county council, some county-wide bodies continued to exist, which were administered by various joint-boards of the seven districts, among these were the West Midlands Police , the West Midlands Fire Service and the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive . In 1994, the western/southern shores of Chasewater , plus the adjacent Jeffreys Swag, were transferred from the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to
West Midlands Serious Crime Squad - Misplaced Pages Continue
4116-416: The apparent culture of making shortcuts and abusing procedure in order to perform well enough to qualify for promotion. In August 1989, the squad was disbanded by Chief Constable Geoffrey Dear and a number of its senior officers were put on desk duties. In the same month, an investigation by West Yorkshire Police led by Assistant Chief Constable Donald Shaw was asked to examine allegations of misconduct at
4214-439: The area is served by BBC Radio WM and BBC CWR covering Coventry . Commercial radio stations include Hits Radio Birmingham , Capital Midlands , Capital Mid-Counties , Heart West Midlands , Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire , Smooth West Midlands , Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands , and Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire . Community radio stations include: The West Midlands
4312-460: The area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself received only small changes and Wolverhampton was unaltered. This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as Burntwood , Bromsgrove , Cannock , Kidderminster , Lichfield and Wombourne which had been considered for inclusion in
4410-565: The arrests made. Explanations put forward included that criminals were becoming more sophisticated and were less "amenable" to making confessions. In 1988, the West Midlands Police explained that "Investigations are more protracted, and masks, disguises, false number plates and other means of evading capture are frequently used", techniques which are hardly unusual among hardened criminals committing serious crimes. Kaye concludes that police management knew that these excuses were thin, and that
4508-586: The county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the West Midlands County Council . However, the Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan county councils, and the West Midlands County Council ceased to exist in 1986. Most of its functions were devolved to the West Midland boroughs, which effectively became unitary authorities , with responsibility for most local authority functions. Following
4606-460: The county of which two, Aston Villa , and Wolverhampton Wanderers , play in the Premier League. The following clubs are often referred to as the West Midlands "Big Six": The West Midlands is also home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club , who are based at Edgbaston Cricket Ground , which also hosts Test matches and One Day Internationals . The Birmingham Panthers basketball team replaced
4704-618: The county, including the River Tame . The river basin is the most urbanised basin in the United Kingdom, with approximately 42% of the basin being urbanised. The River Tame is fed by the River Rea , River Anker , and the River Blythe , which in turn is fed by the River Cole . The River Sowe and River Sherbourne both flow through Coventry. The River Stour flows through the west of the West Midlands county. Like other metropolitan counties ,
4802-431: The course of long interviews. Kaye notes in his examination that such confessions would be unusual as most of the suspects were criminals with several confessions, so likely to be very familiar with police procedure and the effect of such convictions, if they were insisting on their innocence. Often the phraseology of the confessions was similar and hackneyed. Kaye records that many of them were variants on: Kaye adds that
4900-468: The decline in violence may include that it proved counter-productive, as evidence of physical abuse could be recorded and presented in court and that psychological pressure in obtaining confessions could be just as effective. However, there were many serious allegations of violence towards suspects in the SCS's earlier history, the best known of which is that of the Birmingham Six. Derek Boswell made well-documented allegations in 1983, after he refused to make
4998-408: The early 1980s that SCS officers placed plastic bags over the heads of suspects, and covered their mouths, in order to partially suffocate them and extract a confession. Kaye notes that no allegation occurred after 1983. In Keith Twitchell's 1980 case, he underwent a polygraph test and a 'truth drug' test to try to establish that this had happened, but the evidence was deemed inadmissible by the court at
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#17328513459085096-569: The early 1990s (and in Halesowen in 1982) as the local authorities changed direction towards further education colleges. All secondary state education in Dudley and Sandwell is mixed comprehensive, although there are a small number of single sex and grammar schools existing in parts of Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Walsall. In August 2009, Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College merged to become Birmingham Metropolitan College , one of
5194-675: The end of 1982, 25 more "supergrasses" had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force . On 11 April 1983, members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. In October 1983, seven people were convicted on
5292-571: The evidence provided by supergrass Kevin McGrady although the trial judge Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry had described McGrady's evidence as "bizarre, incredible and contradictory". The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick . Twenty-four of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986. Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and
5390-410: The experience to a stop. A third group may come to believe in their guilt over time. Thus false confessions are not the product of coercive techniques alone, but these factors can make confessions unsound. Kaye noted five cases where a statement with a confession was presented back to other suspects, and self-incriminating reactions were noted, although not usually signed by the suspects. This evidence
5488-482: The language of the statements were generally very similar, lacking differentiation in phraseology and colloquialisms, whether from Birmingham or the Black Country, nor reflecting the diverse backgrounds of the suspects, who may have been Asian, Afro-Caribbean, from different regions of Britain or Ireland. Only in the case of Afro-Caribbeans did he note any difference, where suspects would use the word 'man', despite using
5586-561: The largest further and higher education institutions in the country. Plans are afoot for the construction of a new campus in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham. The area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central which both broadcast from Birmingham , the local based-television station TalkBirmingham also covers the area. Television signals are received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter. In terms of BBC Local Radio ,
5684-455: The legislation that enables the use of such evidence. The term has also been used by The Royal Gazette , a daily newspaper in Bermuda, a British overseas territory. An article in the paper used the term to describe a Transport Control Department worker convicted of selling driver's licenses to Portuguese applicants lacking the necessary English skills to pass the multiple choice exam. The worker
5782-784: The local authorities have operated traditional 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior, and 11-16/18 secondary schools for students in compulsory education. This followed the demise of 5–8 first, 8–12 middle and 12-16/18 secondary schools in the Sutton Coldfield area . For 18 years before September 1990, Dudley had operated 5–8 first, 8–12 middle, and 12-16/18 secondary schools before then, while Halesowen (September 1972 until July 1982) and Aldridge-Brownhills (September 1972 until July 1986) had both operated 5–9 first, 9–13 middle and 13-16/18 secondary schools. Many local authorities still have sixth form facilities in secondary schools, though sixth form facilities had been axed by most secondary schools in Dudley since
5880-415: The number of arrests by SCS had declined to under 200, and remained approximately this low through the 1980s, despite a steady increase in reported crime and arrests made in the West Midlands. As a percentage of arrests made by West Midlands Police as a whole, their work was declining. Furthermore, many of the arrests were in practice for less than serious crimes. Burglary and theft accounted for around half of
5978-510: The organisation's poor management in 1985 and 1989. The West Midlands police claimed that the SCS was being reorganised in 1988, with changes to recruitment practices, just before it was closed down. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 should have changed many practices at the SCS, for instance by introducing the recording of interviews, and was noted as implemented in the 1986 annual report. Subsequent evidence however shows that its provisions were being widely ignored or evaded. Throughout
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#17328513459086076-469: The original statements were generally destroyed, as noted above, making it impossible to make this analysis in most cases. Instead, courts later worked on the assumption that certain officers may have tampered with signed confessions on the basis of previous behaviour, making a conviction unsafe if it relied on this evidence. Many confessions were recorded but not admitted to by defendants. The confessional statements were generally short and undetailed, even in
6174-400: The period 1986 – August 1989 were missing. Kaye concludes that files going missing was "not uncommon" at the SCS. In the case of Gall, this included witness statements from the assault victim which described their assailant as very different in appearance from Gall. This evidence did re-appear, late in the court case, but Gall was still convicted. West Midlands (county) West Midlands
6272-517: The problems that Birmingham solicitors had encountered when trying to raise complaints about their clients' cases in relation to the squad. She detailed the apparently widespread practice the squad employed of doctoring statements by adding additional incriminating pages, which was leading to certain convictions being challenged. Nevertheless, the systemic issues at the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad were not being addressed, such as
6370-407: The report recommended that no officers should face criminal charges. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Barbara Mills , agreed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any officer at the squad, a decision for which she was widely criticised. Although no officers were prosecuted for their roles in corrupt investigations, former West Midlands Serious Crime Squad detective Laurence Henry Shaw
6468-413: The report's view and did not attempt to prosecute any officers, and was widely criticised for this decision. The Serious Crime Squad (SCS) was formed in 1974 when the West Midlands Police was created by the Local Government Act 1972 , merging Birmingham City Police with parts of a number of other forces that covered the new West Midlands area. The Squad's roots go back to 1952, when a Special Crime Squad
6566-412: The same language patterns in every other respect. Other evidence for interference with statements comes from the length of the statements. Where the content of the statements is claimed to have been added to, these frequently show implausibly fast note taking. Kaye calculates the transcription rate as being around 30 words a minute, rather than a more typical 20–23 a minute. In John O'Brien's case, DC Shaw
6664-420: The squad was underperforming throughout the 1980s. In 1984, the squad began to rely heavily on ' supergrass ' evidence. These later proved unreliable, but did lead to a number of high-profile arrests. By the mid 1980s, colleagues "resented the 'support ' " of the squad, thus avoided collaboration and referrals, further reducing the squad's ability to pursue serious crime. The District Auditor strongly criticised
6762-457: The squad's investigations were quashed on appeal, including the cases of George Glen Lewis, Keith Twitchell and, on 17 October 2014, Martin Foran, who had been wrongly convicted in 1978 for four counts of robbery. As of January 2017 a total of 60 appellants have had their convictions quashed. A total of over 100 cases either collapsed or were quashed on appeal. In August 1989, the squad was shut down by
6860-469: The squad. However, its remit was limited to complaints made after the start of 1986 "when complaints about the squad started to emerge". The question of whether the convictions in the Birmingham pub bombings case were safe was raised at the time, but was considered out of scope and unnecessary by the government. A number of the former SCS officers that had been placed on desk duties were returned to investigatory roles in 1990, after Dear left for another post and
6958-415: The supergrass system was discontinued in 1985 until reintroduction in 2011. The first supergrass trial in 26 years began on 8 September 2011 for the murder of Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member Tommy English . In Northern Ireland the term " tout " is a popular alternative to "grass". The Police Service of Northern Ireland have refused to use this term and prefer the term Assisting Offender , based on
7056-471: The suspects were taken to police stations some distance away from the arrest, in contravention of PACE regulations. Squad car interviews represent an opportunity to interview suspects without a solicitor, and make it relatively easy for officers to claim that incriminating statements were made, including through falsification of signed notes. Signed confessions were shown from Dandy's case onwards to have been tampered with, due to forensic ESDA evidence. However,
7154-558: The term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which led to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of more than 4,000 cumulative years in prison, based on Black's testimony alone (eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986). By
7252-510: The time. In 1982–83, some of the accused in the Operation Cat convictions made the same allegation. In Derek Treadaway's case, a Home Office pathologist gave evidence that abrasions around his mouth and bruising on his shoulders and chest were consistent with his account of being held down on a chair and "plastic bagged" with his mouth covered. Allegations of violence also declined, with many fewer after 1986, according to Kaye. Explanations for
7350-440: The time. One SCS officer was convicted in 1983 of beating up suspects on the evidence of a police cadet, who was subsequently ostracised and resigned. As violence declined, complaints of threats increased, according to Kaye. Paul Fitzsimmons alleges that he was threatened while in prison with rearrest on release unless he supported the police's account of solicitors asking for bribes in another case, that of Ronnie Bolden. DS McManus
7448-556: Was West Midlands Police policy to transfer the vast majority of documents to microfiche after two years and destroy the originals. Often, the microfiche copies were unreadable. The practice also made it impossible to ascertain if statements had been interfered with through ESDA scanning and analysis. Low level paperwork tasks were supervised by upper management, which was in general too involved in practical work including investigations, distracting from leadership, policy setting and supervision. Management focused on paper-based processes and
7546-542: Was also established as a new ceremonial county , with the offices of Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff created. Its constituent components had previously been, for ceremonial purposes, under the equivalent offices of Warwickshire ( Birmingham CB , Coventry CB, Solihull CB, Sutton Coldfield MB and Meriden RD ), Staffordshire ( Wolverhampton CB, Walsall CB, West Bromwich CB, Dudley CB and Aldridge-Brownhills UD ) and Worcestershire ( Warley CB, Stourbridge MB and Halesowen MB). Between 1974 and 1986,
7644-466: Was apparently obtained in an interview within fifteen minutes of his departure. Supergrass evidence was used to corroborate evidence from alleged confessions. It did not appear alongside other evidence, according to Kaye, so cases relied on a combination of confession and supergrass evidence. Operation Cat, which included the conviction of Treadaway and Pendle, relied heavily on evidence from supergrass Keith Morgan. Morgan had admitted to 20 offences and
7742-411: Was asked in court to read back his notes from an interview that was marked as having taken 15 minutes: he took 20 minutes to read them back. The case was dropped. In order to make it hard for interviewees to be found by lawyers or relatives, police used haphazard interview locations, often to the annoyance of other police, especially as they would be implicitly tolerating the denial of suspects' rights to
7840-654: Was criticised as being misleading and advising officers to assume guilt in a range of situations where this may not be true. The manual appeared to be a compendium of techniques and experience from officers rather than being based on independent psychological research and evidence. Reactions to interviews are made under stress and therefore need to be treated with caution, however the manual instead offered interpretations of various reactions as likely signs of guilt. The advice included contradictory interpretations of similar reactions, without codifying or recognising this. For instance, insisting on innocence and complaining about treatment
7938-405: Was delayed in every case, except those where no request was made. It appears therefore that the standard practice was to interview suspects with the aim of gaining a confession prior to allowing them a solicitor. Nevertheless, this did not stop the confession evidence from being used in successful trials. In some cases, suspects were forced to sign custody records stating that they had not requested
8036-490: Was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley. The actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell, although these areas formed the Warley postal district. Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Bromwich , also Birmingham Airport , and
8134-481: Was formed on an experimental basis. It successfully dealt with a number of metal thieves, a crime that had grown due to the growth of scrap metal collection from bomb sites in the post-War era. A second Regional Crime Squad was formed, to deal with crimes outside of Birmingham, with officers from neighbouring counties. In 1960, when the squad was known as the Birmingham Crime Squad, it detected over 1,060 crimes
8232-463: Was given little management training. Junior officers appeared to have a practical veto on new recruits. Management practice was sufficiently poor for misleading statements to be made by the squad to external authorities. For instance, it told the Court of Appeal that officers had been disciplined after interference with witness statements, but that the changes did not include "incriminating admissions", which
8330-438: Was granted a conditional discharge in exchange for information on other Transport Control Department employees abusing the public trust. One of the most prolific supergrasses in recent British history was Michael Michael whose evidence in 2001 led to 32 criminals being convicted, including his own mother, and the disruption of a £132 million drug ring. The term was used to describe Girolamo Bruzzese after his brother Marcello
8428-550: Was later convicted of attempted robbery in Solihull in 2001 and in 2010 for armed robbery in Lostwithiel, Cornwall . The SCS suffered from a number of issues, ranging from poor recruitment and management practices, to well-documented and repeated techniques of falsification. Poor management led to poor performance, which in turn exacerbated the pressure on officers to take shortcuts. The SCS had an 'elite' ethos, which may have induced
8526-405: Was prosecuted himself for a small number of offences, admitting to nearly 70, and sentenced to six years in jail, the light sentence being part of the deal for giving evidence against others. He later wrote to the solicitors of those he had implicated to explain that his evidence was made under duress. Once convicted, he refused to make any further statements for the police. Allegations were made in
8624-687: Was published in 1994 and concluded that there had been "physical abuse of prisoners, fabrication of admissions, planting of evidence and mishandling of informants". However, just seven officers faced disciplinary action as a result of the report, for 28 disciplinary complaints. One officer faced a complaint about tampering with a statement, while the other six were suspected of irregularities relating to payments to informers. A further ten officers would have faced 20 complaints, but had left or retired. Another 102 officers were given informal advice about their failures to adhere to police procedures. The disciplinary procedures were conducted as an internal matter. However,
8722-517: Was replaced by Ronald Hadfield . The Civil Liberties Trust funded Birmingham University legal academic Tim Kaye to lead an independent inquiry, backed by an advisory panel including Clare Short and the Bishop of Birmingham Mark Santer . It reported in 1991, three years before the official inquiry, and presented evidence of systemic malpractice and patterns of fabrication of evidence and other procedural abuses by specific officers. The official PCA report
8820-491: Was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, roughly as follows: Near the area, three other towns remained separate ( Halesowen , Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield ), while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit, called Aldridge-Brownhills . In the same year, a single West Midlands Constabulary was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its Birmingham City Police and Solihull continued being policed by
8918-563: Was responsible for the investigation of the Bridgewater Four . At least 40 convictions failed in the 1980s as a result of likely malpractice , including tampering with evidence. As cases began to regularly collapse in the late 1980s, pressure mounted to investigate the squad. Clare Short raised the issue in Parliament in January 1989. The Birmingham Six's convictions were quashed in 1991. A series of other less high-profile convictions based on
9016-516: Was sentenced to five years in return for the evidence he presented. Morgan was not a reliable witness, however. He had also alleged that a Merseyside police officer helped him plan some robberies and demanded payment. These allegations were dismissed after an investigation. The fact of this allegation and its unreliability was not available to the defence of those he had accused. Supergrass Albert McCabe implicated over 100 suspects from 1986, many of whom were prosecuted, but whose cases later collapsed. He
9114-649: Was signalled in different parts of the manual as both indicating innocence and guilt. The Guardian concluded that West Midlands Police should "adopt the approach of Mersey scheme, with its emphasis on teaching the police to listen and frame questions. Research shows the biggest mistake in interrogation is the failure to listen to what is said". There was a lax approach to the pairing of officers for interview. Officers who are less familiar with each other should be put together to reduce risks of poor or illegal practice. A number of regular pairings of interviewing officers seems to have led to collaboration in falsifying evidence. It
9212-471: Was the administrative body covering the county; this was abolished on 31 March 1986, and the constituent metropolitan boroughs effectively became unitary authorities . A new administrative body for the county (and some of the district surrounding it as Non-Constituent members), the West Midlands Combined Authority , was created in June 2016. Since May 2017, the authority has been headed by a directly elected Mayor of
9310-414: Was then used in their convictions. For instance, Foran was noted as saying "What can I say? It's all there isn't it?" Boswell was recorded as saying "That fucking bastard, I'll kill him ... we all agreed to make our own statements if caught and I can't make one against my own will, can I?" Several confessions were said by police officers to have taken place in a squad car immediately after arrest. Sometimes,
9408-503: Was threatened with a syringe, with police saying they would give him injections, which he feared, if he did not sign. A witness in the case of PC Salt's murder also alleges that she was intimidated and shouted at while being told to implicate the others involved, while the main suspects were threatened with the murder charges if they did not confess to his robbery. In some cases, the SCS was accused of fabricating forensic evidence. Ronnie Bolden alleged that police rubbed his shoes and socks on
9506-401: Was told to sign a confession. Her children were brought to the police station, despite prior agreement that they were to stay with their grandmother, with the effect of making her extremely concerned about how they were being treated. She signed the confession, but it later came to light that she had difficulty reading so was unlikely to have understood its contents. George Lewis alleged that he
9604-454: Was wholly untrue. This led to the appeals of Horobin and Wilcox being turned down in 1988. The SCS often relied on confession evidence to the exclusion of other kinds of evidence, despite the fact that it is inherently unreliable. Sometimes this can simply be due to the presence of authority and the expectation to confess. It can be due to stress factors in interviews. Given a certain level of stress, some interviewees will confess simply to bring
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