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Scotland on Sunday newspaper printed the following article on 13 April 2008 Life after death row - Kenny Richey interview by Peter Ross Adjusting to life as a free man hasn't been easy for Kenny Richey, with allegations of cocaine abuse the latest to hit the headlines. Here the man who survived 21 years on death row talks about his dreams for a future he thought he'd never have – being reunited with his ex-wife, getting to know his son – and his constant battle with suicide. It's late morning, a little before noon, a little above freezing, and Kenny Richey is in a little trouble – to put it mildly. The billboard outside the newsagent's at the end of his street says it all: 'Exclusive: Death Row Richey's Cocaine Binge'. The front of the tabloid carries a blurred photograph of Richey apparently inhaling white powder through a rolled-up banknote. Inside, the report insists he has become a "drugged-up wreck" within months of returning to his home town, Edinburgh, after 21 years in an American prison, convicted of a murder he did not commit. With the paper in my bag, I walk round the corner and up to the top-floor tenement flat in Dalry where Richey has lived, with his mother Eileen, since his flashbulb-lit arrival in Scotland on January 9. Richey glances up when I come in. He's hunched over a nervous cigarette in black suit and shoes, black shirt and tie. It's too smart an outfit for Sunday morning, unless he's just back from church, which is doubtful. Richey does have religious faith, and during his years on death row in Ohio he begged God to grant him freedom, but his gratitude for this answered prayer doesn't extend to formal worship. In fact, Richey is dressed this way because it's what he was wearing the evening before, during a heavy session at the Cavendish club, and he hasn't changed yet. He has slept for less than an hour, and his round white face rises above his dark clothes like the moon at midnight. He has a bad case of booze blues, is angry at the tabloid story and seeks solace in acronyms – smoking B&H while talking in effs and bees. He asks for the newspaper. He's heard about it but not seen it yet. "Cocaine Kenny!" he jeers at the headline. "Killing myself with drugs! That's ridiculous!" Read the full article on this page.
MARCH 2008 FEBRUARY 2008
Bitter Freedom The release of any wrongly imprisoned person is, at first, good reason to rejoice. But sometimes life on the outside is too hard to bear. "I spent a lifetime in jail for a murder I never committed," he said. These were among the final words of Stuart Gair, aged 44. A heart monitor pronounced him dead on the worn sitting-room carpet where he lay. The noise from the defibrillator blew the tolerances of the radio transmitter recording the last minutes of a man who had died, in truth, years before his cardiac arrest. Imprisoned for murder in 1989, Stuart spent nearly 12 years in prison. It took him a further five years to clear his name. When he died he had yet to receive any compensation for one of Scotland's most shameful miscarriages of justice. "Stand clear . . . suitable for shock," the artificial voice of the defibrillator crackled. After five attempts to re-engage his heart, the Lazarus machine pronounced him back among the living. But three days later, a consultant from the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary phoned to tell me that Stuart's heart had stopped again and he was in a coma with no hope of recovery. He asked my permission to turn off his life support machine, as no family or friends could be found. |
Listen to the Mojo slot on Sunny Govan Radio 103.5 FM Wednesday night 9pm - 10pm GMT. You can also listen online at www.sunnygovan.org Let’s applaud the saving graces of a band of quiet heroes For the wrongly jailed,
there is no Shawshank Redemption ending
MARCH 2007 Sally Clark Our
hearts go out to the family of Sally Clark It is not as if the authorities are unaware of the need for such duty of care. In the same year as the Birmingham Six were released after 16 years, two men who had spent five years of wrongful imprisonment were taken, along with their families and some campaigners, to R.A.F. Lyneham to receive four months of deep counselling by Professor Gordon Turnbull and his team. The only difference was that these men were held captive in a foreign land: their names John MacCarthy and Terry Waite CBE. It would seem that rather than face up to their responsibilities and help innocent victims of the state, the government will continue to punish them. Only this week, the judgement from the House of Lords, allowing the Home Office to claim back living expenses (bed and board) from their compensation, was just another vindictive act. One of the Law Lords remarked that to not charge them saved living expenses would be to 'over compensate'.. This man should hang his head in shame - as no amount of money can ever compensate for being wrongfully convicted. Those in that situation have lost everything of meaning and value and all of them will suffer from severe post traumatic stress disorders brought on by their wrongful conviction and compounded by the sudden release from the appeal court. At the present moment M.O.J.O. is trying to raise funds to build a retreat, in which specialised, shared experience and counselling can help innocent men and women come to terms with the world in which they find themselves. A world where their lives have been ripped apart, a world where they don’t fit in and where they feel nothing. We
write this with a heavy heart, at the unnecessary and tragic death of
Sally Clark, and pray that at some point those in authority will face
up to their responsibilities by setting up a specialised counselling programme
to help innocent men and women who have had their lives ripped apart and
to at least try and help them put their lives back together. This was
a tragedy waiting to happen and a tragedy that could have been prevented.
Our hearts go out to the family of Sally and hopefully now she can rest
in peace.
Freedom Of Speech event in Easterhouse. This is part of the Grand Idea. Click here to find out more "What happens to the innocent" - DVD. What happens to the innocent. Click here to find out when and where the DVD will be shown. Anger at Charles Clarkes bid for compensation shake up
"They
couldn't spell justice never mind dispense it." Please
take some time to read this letter from William Gage
Steven Johnston and Billy Allison Steven
and Billy were released from the appeal court 10 days before Christmas
with no money or support from the authorities. Two months previously MOJO
raised £1000 from bucket collections outside the Alabama 3's Scottish
gigs. Well, the boys would like to thank you all and below is a short
note. Thanks
to everyone who has donated items to M.O.J.O Scotland. Your help has been
much appreciated
New range of Freedom of Speech T-Shirts available Paddy Hill and Robert Brown on stage before the Alabama 3 gig in Glasgow 21/5/05 Thanks also to the Alabama 3 who have supported M.O.J.O in our previous campaigns. Cheers guys
M.O.J.O
would like to thank everyone for their donations and support in both Glasgow
and Shepherds Bush gigs. Alabama 3 Gigs
New case file added - Stuart Gair Forever Lost Forever Gone - Paddy Joe Hill. See How to Help page |
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