UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧
Off Topic and General Discussions => Off topic, general discussions and the Wide Awake Club. => Topic started by: John on April 30, 2013, 02:11:01 PM
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I so hate being right all the time but here we go again...
This is yet another failure for the University of Bristol Innocence Project led by Dr Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan.
Lets hope Simon Hall has more luck with them? 8(0(*
This case was referred by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission based in Glasgow so questions must now be again asked if this organisation is fit for purpose?
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54685000/jpg/_54685979_squarewullie.jpg)
William Beck loses armed robbery conviction appeal
A man who has tried to clear his name more than 30 years after being jailed for the armed robbery of a postal van has had his appeal turned down.
William Beck, 52, was sentenced to four years after a jury found him guilty of the robbery in Livingston, West Lothian in December 1981. Around £21,000 was stolen from two postal workers.
Beck claimed he was 40 miles away in Glasgow when the robbery took place and his conviction in March 1982 was based on "unreliable" witnesses.
His grounds of appeal criticised the legal directions given to jurors by trial judge Lord Dunpark, the eye witness evidence Beck claims was mistaken, the rejection of his alibi and a claim that his legal team had let him down.
On Tuesday, his appeal was quashed at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh by Lord Carloway, sitting with Lords Brodie and Marnoch.
Delivering his opinion, Lord Carloway said: "The court has been unable to hold that a miscarriage of justice occurred."
Read more... (http://local.stv.tv/edinburgh/223456-william-beck-who-fought-for-30-years-to-clear-name-has-appeal-quashed/)
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We notice that they are silent on ths issue. And it was all going so well. 8(>((
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We notice that they are silent on ths issue. And it was all going so well. 8(>((
It just goes to show that handcuffing yourself to the doors of the SCCRC can get you in but it doesn't work with the High Court in Edinburgh. The SCCRC are a disgrace and a sham organisation whose reasons for referring this case in the first place given everything which has gone before must now be questioned.
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Must be quite a blow for him this coming after 32 years and all those hours spent posting gibberish on the Shirley Mckie and Glasgow Innocence forums? You have to remember that Beck is a self-confessed career criminal who used to nick cars in Glasgow for kicks. I did think that the involvement of Dr Naughton might stand him in good stead.
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They like 'hard to win' cases, next they'll be pleading Kevin Craigie didn't do it either!
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They like 'hard to win' cases, next they'll be pleading Kevin Craigie didn't do it either!
Quite Joanne. It makes for an interesting learning platform for students but does little for the poor sod who might just be innocent. 8(8-))
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I can't imagine it does their morale any good either.
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I can't imagine it does their morale any good either.
I thought they were going to make a break through with the Beck case but there wasn't anything really new in what they provided to the court. It all came down to identification evidence and the judges appeared to have had no doubt about it otherwise they could have called the conviction unsafe.
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To be honest I don't know much about the case. I was glad Martin Foran's appeal went well, I met him last year and I like him. It seems to alter the perspective for me when I've either met someone or know them but then I fear it becoming a 'personal' case to sort rather than 'evidence' based case to deal with and cases can't really be judged on looks, only evidence.
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To be honest I don't know much about the case. I was glad Martin Foran's appeal went well, I met him last year and I like him. It seems to alter the perspective for me when I've either met someone or know them but then I fear it becoming a 'personal' case to sort rather than 'evidence' based case to deal with and cases can't really be judged on looks, only evidence.
Very true. Wullie Beck knows exactly what my feelings are towards him and his failure to apologise to all those good Glasgow folk he stole from. The UoBIP must be feeling rather war weary at this moment in time.
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Do they have information as to how many cases they have or are dealing with and the outcomes? Who funds the work? I mean it must cost something for stationery, phone calls et al.
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Do they have information as to how many cases they have or are dealing with and the outcomes? Who funds the work? I mean it must cost something for stationery, phone calls et al.
As far as I understand they haven't won a case yet. Bristol University funds their costs.
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Do any of these organisations win or is it just bad luck (or stupidity) for Bristol?
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Do any of these organisations win or is it just bad luck (or stupidity) for Bristol?
You have met them at a workshop in Sheffield Joanne, what do you think?
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I wouldn't trust them to feed Padgate, let alone fight my corner if I needed it.
Michael Naughton doesn't come over as credible, to me and from the Rough Justice show about Simon Hall, they seemed to view it as an episode of Scooby Doo or Heartbeat.
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Wullie Beck apparently instructed his lawyer to object to his appeal being heard by Lord Carloway on the basis that he had criticised his stance on the new Law reforms in Scotland but his lawyer ignored his instruction. Sounds familiar to me all right!
All I can say about todays Judgement is it was expected once I knew Lord Carloway was chairing it.
I had asked my defence team to object to Lord Carloway on the grounds I had made serious complaints to the Justice Minister and Justice Committee which I can now publish below.
My defence did not make this objection.
I have edited my Address and Phone Number from this letter sent to Paul Martin MSP on 20/08/2012 who made the complaint on my behalf:
William Beck
Tel No:
Dear Mr Martin
As one of your constituents and a justice campaigner I have concerns about the accuracy of the recent Scottish Government Consultation Paper which followed Lord Carloway’s report on reforming Scots Law in the wake of the ‘Cadder’ judgement. This judgement by the Supreme Court made it mandatory that accused persons were entitled to consult a lawyer before police interrogation.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Review/CarlowayReview
In their submission to the Justice Committee enquiry as part of the consultation process ‘Rape Crisis Scotland’ stated.
‘Since Cadder, defence lawyers seem to be routinely advising their clients to make no comment at all during police interviews, which is seriously hampering police efforts to put cases together and appears to be making prosecutions in rape cases even more difficult than they were previously’.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk...s_Scotland_written_submission.pdf (Para 1.2)
This claim that, ‘defence lawyers seem to be routinely advising their clients to make no comment at all during police interviews’ was part of the Rape Crisis case for the removal of ‘corroboration’ now that accused were entitled to lawyers before interrogation by the police. Their claim was taken up by Lord Carloway as part of his report and in turn has been used in the Scottish Government’s consultation paper apparently as part of the case for doing away with corroboration.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0039/00396483.pdf (Page 39 footnote 14)
I do not believe that any evidence has been adduced to support this claim and at a recent workshop at Strathclyde University on the likely consequences of the Carloway recommendations this was confirmed to me during discussions.
I feel there is a danger that Lord Carloway is misleading parliament in supporting his recommendation to do away with ‘corroboration’ with erroneous or unproven ‘facts’. The Scottish Government in repeating the claim in its consultation paper is giving credence to them.
I would appreciate it if you would consider making the following enquiry by way of a parliamentary question.
‘To ask the Scottish Government what evidence it has to support Rape Crisis Scotland’s claim, made in their written submissions to the Justice Committee on the Carloway Report and repeated in the Scottish Government consultation paper on ‘Reforming Scots Criminal Law and Practice: The Carloway Report’, that defence lawyers seem to be routinely advising their clients to make no comment at all during police interviews and that this has resulted in a significant drop in the number of rape prosecutions.’
Like a number of leading commentators on Scottish Legal matters, including Maggie Scott QC, I have severe reservations about the removal of corroboration and believe that unless safeguards are put in place it will lead to even more miscarriages of justice. My concern deepens when I discover that unsubstantiated information is being used to support changes.
Kindest Regards
Wullie Beck
http://shirleymckie.wonko.myfastforum.org/ftopic1212-80.php
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Michael O'Brien
@michael47478285
Sad to say that our good friend Wullie Beck who has been fighting to prove his innocence since 1981 has passed away suddenly my thoughts are with all his family and friends RIP.
1:28 PM · May 26, 2020·Twitter Web App
https://mobile.twitter.com/michael47478285/status/1265258629298618369