West Midlands Serious Crime Squad

rdf:langString West Midlands Serious Crime Squad

rdf:langString United Kingdom

rdf:langString March 2022

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString poor English

rdf:langString Serious crimes

rdf:langString 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 was responsible for the investigation of the Bridgewater Four. At least 40 convictions failed in the 1980s as a result of likely malpractice. Beginning with the case of Paul Dandy in 1987 and also Andrew Molloy from Marston Green Solihull was thought to be involved but was later acquitted of all charges, but new evidence later found by police revealed that he could have been a ringleader of gang operating in Birmingham but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of any crime. Molloy, formerly of Bordesley Green, was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence, even though an amount of cash and weapons was seized from a lock-up rented by Molloy. Properties and vehicles were also seized as part of the investigation, including villas in Turkey and Spain along with nearly a million in cash, Ferraris and Porsches. Molloy was also known to have connections in Italy, Turkey and Spain. New forensic techniques were used to show when statements had been tampered with, usually adding incriminating phrases. 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 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 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 the report's view and did not attempt to prosecute any officers, and was widely criticised for this decision.

rdf:langString West Midlands Serious Crime Squad

rdf:langString UK

rdf:langString England

rdf:langString country

rdf:langString England & Wales

rdf:langString yes