We found ourselves being locked up again amongst prisoners, convicted of some of the worst crimes in Scotland and this made us more determined than ever to prove we were innocent men. In June 2002 we applied to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission with the hope that justice would finally be done and started a Campaign to prove our innocence. Worrying reports started filtering through to us via family and friends as it appeared the complainer had been boasting about her achievements in regard to the ease in which she had been given compensation money. Five friends of the complainer came forward after the Appeal and stated the complainer had confessed to them that the rape allegations were completely false. One friend stated he had received lurid sexually explicit letters from the complainer not long after she had accused us of rape….surely not the actions of someone who has been raped…more like someone with mental health issues. A jury member came forward and admitted going on a ‘frolic of his own’ during our trial due to suspicions regarding the complainers testimony. He visited the locus during the trial to carry out his own investigation into parts of the complainer’s testimony and reported back to his fellow jury members which is a clear breach of the Criminal Procedure Act 1995 which states ‘ no information should be brought into the trial proceedings out with the presence of the accused and their legal representatives’. The jury member’s actions also reflected a ‘breach of oath’ which constituted a ‘fundamental irregularity’. The Campaign began to pick up pace and I was visited in prison by Mr Mike Pringle MSP, John McManus ( Mojo co-ordinator) and Paddy Hill who has suffered a shameful miscarriage of justice himself and who subsequently spent 16 years wrongly imprisoned as one of the infamous ‘Birmingham Six’. We highlighted our injustice via several newspapers who have subsequently dubbed us the ‘Fernieside Three’ and continue to do so. The complainers close family members even went on record with a Sunday Broadsheet stating they ‘believe the rape allegations to be false ! Witnesses also came forward claiming the complainer had stated she was encouraged by Lothian & Borders Police to change her statements and obstructed from dropping the allegations altogether. Evidence that proves we have suffered a shameful miscarriage of justice continued to come to light and the SCCRC were submitted with every piece of new evidence available. A Petition consisting of hundreds of names in support of our cause was also submitted to the SCCRC. In December 2004 the SCCRC informed us of their preposterous decision not to refer our case to the Court of Criminal Appeal for consideration. Serious concerns have arisen due to the SCCRC’s decision which we feel casts doubt on their independence and impartiality. We believe the consequences on the quashing of our convictions would have brought severe repercussions to the incompetent bodies responsible for our injustice in the first place and that the SCCRC decided to take the easy option in denying us the opportunity to clear our names. The three of us and our families simply refuse to accept the SCCRC’s shambolic decision and it now looks the only way forward is to Judial Review the Commission in the Court of Session in relation to them failing to refer our case back to the Appeal Court. Our Instructions have already been acknowledged by our legal teams in regards to the Judicial Review and the Scottish Legal Aid Board have already sanctioned us ‘Advise & Assistance’ cover in respect of obtaining an Opinion from leading senior counsel.
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