UK Court Quashes Convictions of Two Men Framed by Corrupt Police Officer

Two more men, Christopher Poulter and Kevin Biggs, have had their theft convictions quashed, half a century after they were framed by Britain's most corrupt police officer, Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell. In 1976, Poulter, then 21, and Biggs, then 18, were convicted of taking 13 mailbags from a wagon at the Clapham goods yard in London.

Ridgewell, who was jailed for seven years in 1980 after being convicted of stealing more than £1 million in goods, was found to have framed scores of innocent individuals, many of them young black men, for his own crimes. Poulter and Biggs are the 14th and 15th individuals to have their convictions overturned in relation to Ridgewell's misconduct.

Their defense was that they had been at a pub in Tooting, south London, for the entire evening before being approached and arrested by officers. Poulter received a one-year prison sentence and Biggs was sentenced to borstal training. Biggs died in 2004.

Referral to Court of Appeal

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred the case to the Court of Appeal earlier this year following new evidence concerning Ridgewell. At a hearing on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeals and quashed the convictions. Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr. Justice Lavender and Mr. Justice Linden, noted that it had not been possible to join relatives of the deceased Biggs or locate Poulter to the appeal of a third man, Stephen Simmons, whose conviction was quashed in 2018.

Long Road to Justice

Jenny Wiltshire, head of serious and general crime at Hickman and Rose, who has represented many of Ridgewell's victims, described the delay in identifying and clearing the men as a "disgrace." She stated that the British Transport Police knew Ridgewell's evidence was corrupt shortly after the convictions, yet took decades to fully address the issue. "As a result of this inaction, Christopher Poulter has lived the majority of his life as a convicted criminal. Kevin Biggs died as one," Wiltshire said.

Ridgewell's corruption at the British Transport Police became notorious by 1973, leading to calls for a public inquiry. However, the full extent of his actions, including framing innocent young black men, took another 50 years to emerge. Other victims, such as Errol Campbell and Ronald De Souza, were cleared more recently. De Souza was the last member of the "Stockwell Six," falsely accused of attempting to rob Ridgewell, to have his conviction overturned.

British Transport Police quietly transferred Ridgewell from investigating muggings to their mailbag theft unit, where he stole property valued at £364,000, equivalent to nearly £1.3 million today. In 1977, Errol Campbell was wrongly jailed for 18 months for theft and conspiracy to steal, based on evidence planted by Ridgewell. Ridgewell died of a heart attack in prison in 1982, two years after his sentencing.

Calls for Legal Reform

Families of posthumously cleared victims are calling for new legislation that would mandate an automatic independent review of cases involving police officers who are jailed. "If that had happened, that would have saved more than 45 years of misery for the Campbell family," said Matt Foot, solicitor for Errol Campbell Jr.

In July of the previous year, the British Transport Police issued an apology for the "criminal actions of former BTP Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell." Assistant Chief Constable Doyle stated that the force is continuing to review records related to Ridgewell's corrupt practices and is pursuing a criminal investigation into those involved. "I am disgusted by the actions of Derek Ridgewell, and while we know we can't change the past, his actions do not represent the BTP of today," Doyle added.