Trustee
Andrew David Barclay (Dave), BSc, MSc, DSc, FFSSoc.
Expertise and Cases
Dave has a BSc degree with joint Honours in Chemistry and Zoology, and an MSc in Forensic Science and is a Fellow of the Forensic Science Society. He was a practising forensic scientist accredited by the UK Home Office as an authorised analyst from 1972, and from 1996 until he retired in 2005 was Head of Physical Evidence at the National Crime and Operations Faculty (NCOF), Bramshill.
NCOF is a UK wide organisation funded by the Police Service to provide expertise and operational support in the most complex crimes of violence such as rape series, stranger murders and the murders of children or vulnerable adults. During his NCOF duties Dave reviewed approximately 235 undetected murders or murder series in the UK and worldwide. It is now part of the National Police Improvement Agency.
Patron
Michael Mansfield QC
Called to the Bar in 1967 Michael Mansfield has a BA Hons. degree in History and Philosophy from Keele University before turning to law. He soon earned the respect of colleagues, mounting vigorous defences for clients. He made his name in the Angry Brigade trial in the early 1970s before establishing Tooks Court Chambers in 1984. He took silk (became a Queen’s Counsel) in 1989.
Mansfield has never shied away from controversial cases, especially where civil liberties are at stake. He has been involved in high profile cases such as Barry George – wrongly convicted of the murder of television presenter Jill Dando. He has also represented the families of victims of the Bloody Sunday shootings at the inquiry into those deaths and the family of Jean Charles de Menezes the entirely innocent Brasilian electrician shot dead by police in 2005.
At inquests he represented the families of Tom Hurndall and James Miller – journalists murdered by the Israeli army. He also represented the families of the Omagh, Lockerbie and Dublin bombings. The relatives of victims of the Marchioness disaster and families of the victims of the New Cross Fire were his clients. Mansfield represented striking miners at Orgreave and also the Newham Seven and Bradford Twelve – victims of racist attacks who defended themselves.
Founder and Director
Satish Sekar
Satish began working on justice issues in 1990. His greatest success is the incredible case of the Cardiff Five (Yusef Abdullahi, Stephen Miller, Tony Paris and the cousins John and Ronnie Acrie). His work contributed to the successful appeal. He then persuaded the authorities to look for the real killer, along with Lynette’s mother Peggy Pesticcio. His book (see below) had a great impact when it was published in 1998.
FIP Supporters
Gareth Peirce – Solicitor specialising in defence work. She has represented too many victims of miscarriages of justice to list them all. The renowned solicitor Gareth Peirce is a partner at Birnberg/Peirce. She prefers to talk about cases and issues, which is fine with us. She represents individuals subjected to rendition and torture, held in prisons in the UK on the basis of secret evidence, and interned in secret prisons abroad under regimes that continue to practice torture. She also represents people claiming to be victims of miscarriages of justice, many of which have subsequently been proven.
Clients include the Birmingham Six, Michael O'Brien, Stephen, Judith Ward, the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, and Moazzam Begg. Lesser known clients include Samuel Kulasingham and Premraj Sivalingham.
In Dispatches From the Dark Side: On Torture and the Death of Justice, which we have reviewed she looks at the British government’s involvement in torture which, if not accounted for, will destroy much of the moral and legal fabric it claims to be protecting. She also contributed a foreword for Sekar's book Fitted In: The Cardiff 3 and the Lynette White Inquiry.
Edward FitzGerald QC. - Specialising in criminal defence work he has corrected several miscarriages of justice. He represented Darren Hall (Newsagent's Three) and secured an acknowledgment from a then Mr. Justice (Sir Andrew) Collins that Timothy Evans - hanged for the murder of his baby daughter in 1950 - was innocent. Tony Poole and several others were represented by the award-winning QC.
Jonathan Jones – Jonathan was wrongly convicted of the murder of Harry and Megan Tooze. They were shot dead in their farmhouse in Llanharry in July 1993. His then girlfriend – they have since married – Cheryl believed him innocent. A weak circumstantial case resulted in conviction by majority verdict after a 55-day trial at Newport Crown Court. Jones was represented by fellow FIP supporter Stuart Hutton.
Unusually, the judge, the late Mr. Justice (Sir Richard) Rougier, wrote to Jones' QC, John Charles Rees, expressing his concern that the jury had got it wrong. The letter was made public and Jonathan's convictions were quashed on appeal in April 1996.
His was the second miscarriage of justice case reviewed by the Major Crime Review Unit, which was established in May 1999. It was later re-opened, but to date it has not been resolved by the arrest and conviction of the real perpetrator.
Cheryl Jones – Cheryl was the girlfriend of Jonathan Jones – they have since married. When he was wrongfully arrested and convicted, she stood by him, believing rightly that it was a terrible miscarriage of justice. Her parents were the victims of a callous double murder in July 1993. Cheryl campaigned for Jones and put up a reward for information leading to the conviction of the real killer.
Jones was freed by the Court of Appeal in 1996, largely due to Cheryl's efforts. Their story is an uplifting one. Several relationships break down under the strain of a miscarriage of justice. They are an inspiration and still together. Sadly, the real killer(s) of Harry and Megan Tooze have yet to be brought to justice.
David Michael – Former Detective Chief Inspector and Founder of the Metropolitan Police’s Black Police Association.
Nogah Ofer – Solicitor specialising in compensation and accountability. Clients include Michael O'Brien and 4 of the Cardiff Five.
Michael O’Brien – Victim of miscarriage of justice (11 years)
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Bob Woffinden – Author specialising in miscarriages of justice.
Steven Bird – Solicitor specialising in criminal defence. Clients include Neil Sayers.
Paul Blackburn – Victim of miscarriage of justice (25 years).
Stuart Hutton – Solicitor specialising in criminal defence. He has represented several victims of proven miscarriages of justice, including Jonathan Jones and John Actie (Cardiff Five) among others.
Raju Bhatt – Solicitor specialising in compensation and accountability. He has represented many families over inquests. He assisted Gary Mills and Tony Poole to judicially review the decision of the Criminal Cases Review Commission not to refer their convictions back to the Court of Appeal. Then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, thought that ‘almost every aspect of the prosecution was tarnished.’ The convictions were quashed on appeal in 2003.
Duncan Campbell - Duncan Campbell worked for the Guardian from 1987 to 2009 and was its crime correspondent, Los Angeles correspondent and senior correspondent. He was previously news editor of Time Out and City Limits. He is a former chairman of the Crime Reporters’ Association, presented of the BBC radio programme, Crimedesk, and is the author of a number of books on crime, including The Underworld, That was Business, This Is Personal and A Stranger and Afraid: the story of Caroline Beale. His latest book is If It Bleeds, a novel about crime reporting. He has also written for the Observer and the New Statesman and presented the BBC Radio Four programme, Bandits of the Blitz, about crime during the second world war. He is a winner of the Bar Council’s Newspaper Journalist of the Year award for his articles on victims of domestic violence who were convicted of murder.
Michelle Diskin – Sister of Barry George, the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Why are we here
Ten years ago we published Satish Sekar's acclaimed book Fitted-In: The Cardiff 3 and the Lynette White Inquiry. We hoped that it would stimulate debate on several areas of law and result in major policy reforms that would improve the performance of the criminal justice system. The murder of Lynette White was a particularly brutal murder. At the time it was the worst murder of its type in Welsh history. She sustained more than fifty stab wounds. The Cardiff Three – Yusef Abdullahi, Stephen Miller and Tony Paris had been free for more than five years. John and Ronnie Actie had been free even longer, but who would fight for justice for Lynette White?