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62-563: 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

124-516: A "grass" is defined as "an informer". The etymology of "grass" being used as signifying a traitor, a person who informs on people he or she knows intimately, ostensibly can be traced to the expression "snake in the grass", which has a similar meaning. The phrase derives from the writings of Virgil (in Latin , latet anguis in herba ) and has been known in the English language, meaning "traitor", since

186-503: A certain amount of arrogance when dealing with other investigators. Recruitment was usually through choice rather than open recruitment. The SCS was an all male, probably wholly white unit; officers tended to serve for long periods rather than move regularly, and were allowed to work very long overtime hours. These factors may have together reinforced an insular culture. There are also recorded incidents of bullying of officers who reported malpractice. The general West Midlands interview manual

248-498: A getaway car's carpet. In the case of Robert Burston and others, police were said to have taken bin liners with their fingerprints and placed them in a post office van. Keith Twitchell claimed his hairs were planted as evidence, although this was not used in court. During the PCA inquiry, seven police notebooks were found to be missing, despite it being a requirement for these to be kept secure for seven years. Six arrest files out of 658 for

310-502: A new forensic technique, using a machine known as an ESDA, or Electrostatic Detection Apparatus . The technique allowed forensic experts to trace impressions made on sheets of paper underneath the original, often showing when words or lines had been added to original statements. The first of the cases using this evidence was that of Paul Dandy, in 1987. In January 1989 Clare Short , MP for Birmingham Ladywood , raised in Parliament

372-431: A solicitor. Arrests often took place very early in the morning, which is often standard police practice to ensure suspects are easily located, but would have made them disorientated at interview. Irregular, long and early hours would also have affected police performance. Kaye's analysis of 1980s case evidence found that no confession evidence was produced when a solicitor was present. He also found that access to solicitors

434-403: A solicitor. In one case, George Lewis, the custody sheet has a line marking the paper where his hand has clearly been knocked to prevent him striking out the statement saying he had agreed not to have a solicitor present. In another case, Charles Campbell, his solicitor Mr Shipley obtained the agreement of the police that no interview was to take place without his presence, but Campbell's confession

496-400: A statement. He claimed that an unknown officer entered his cell, beat him up and told him to make a statement. He was later visited by a doctor who recorded that he had blood stains on his T-shirt and trousers, blood clots in his nostrils and minor facial injuries, consistent with his account of being hit in the face. The officer was never identified, although Boswell gave a description of him at

558-571: A year, and made 579 arrests. However, annual reports emphasise that the seriousness of the crimes rather than the quantity was the key factor in performance. The squad dealt with the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, bringing its work to national attention. It continued to deal with anti-terrorist investigations until 1979, when a separate squad was formed. This meant that the SCS had to reorient its own work primarily towards armed robberies. Also in 1979,

620-533: Is alleged to have asked Fitzsimmons to claim that Bolden's solicitors had offered him a bribe to give evidence to help Bolden. Hassan Khan claimed that he was told during his journey back from arrest in North Wales, that he would be beaten up and treated in the same way as the Birmingham Six, and was going to meet the person who dealt with them. Eileen McCabe, the sister of supergrass Albert, said she

682-523: The "copper" or policeman. In Northern Ireland , the term "supergrass" especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary , possibly in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Sir John Hermon , former Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary , did not deny reports that inducements were paid but denied figures as high as £50,000 were involved. The use of

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744-537: The 1980s, there were concerns about the safety of the Birmingham Six convictions. Chris Mullin campaigned as an MP to see their convictions reviewed. Concerns about the Bridgewater Four, who had been investigated by the sister No 4 Regional Crime Squad, were investigated by Paul Foot . A number of cases had been overturned in the 1980s and several members of the squad were seen to be unreliable witnesses. However, concerns were given particular credence due to

806-920: 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

868-666: The SCS moved to share offices with other West Midlands police units in Lloyd House . In 1979–80, the SCS investigated a spate of armed robberies known as the 'Thursday Robberies' because they always took place on Thursdays. The gang was known as the Thursday Gang by the police. The SCS and the Robbery Squads worked together to catch the criminals responsible in Operation Cat . The 1991 Independent Report into

930-453: The SCS states that "many Midlands solicitors we have spoken to believe [this operation] gave the green light to some officers ... to indulge in serious malpractice". The arrests included Ronald, Donald, and John Brown , whose convictions were later quashed. After the murder of a security guard in 1980, SCS arrested two alleged criminals for armed robbery, John Irvine and Keith Twitchell, whose convictions were also later quashed. By 1982,

992-489: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 223472389 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:37:53 GMT Supergrass (informant) The first known use of "grass" in that context is Arthur Gardner's crime novel Tinker's Kitchen , published in 1932, in which

1054-416: The apparent culture of making shortcuts and abusing procedure in order to perform well enough to qualify for promotion. In August 1989, the squad was disbanded by Chief Constable Geoffrey Dear and a number of its senior officers were put on desk duties. In the same month, an investigation by West Yorkshire Police led by Assistant Chief Constable Donald Shaw was asked to examine allegations of misconduct at

1116-574: The arrests made. Explanations put forward included that criminals were becoming more sophisticated and were less "amenable" to making confessions. In 1988, the West Midlands Police explained that "Investigations are more protracted, and masks, disguises, false number plates and other means of evading capture are frequently used", techniques which are hardly unusual among hardened criminals committing serious crimes. Kaye concludes that police management knew that these excuses were thin, and that

1178-431: The course of long interviews. Kaye notes in his examination that such confessions would be unusual as most of the suspects were criminals with several confessions, so likely to be very familiar with police procedure and the effect of such convictions, if they were insisting on their innocence. Often the phraseology of the confessions was similar and hackneyed. Kaye records that many of them were variants on: Kaye adds that

1240-468: The decline in violence may include that it proved counter-productive, as evidence of physical abuse could be recorded and presented in court and that psychological pressure in obtaining confessions could be just as effective. However, there were many serious allegations of violence towards suspects in the SCS's earlier history, the best known of which is that of the Birmingham Six. Derek Boswell made well-documented allegations in 1983, after he refused to make

1302-408: The early 1980s that SCS officers placed plastic bags over the heads of suspects, and covered their mouths, in order to partially suffocate them and extract a confession. Kaye notes that no allegation occurred after 1983. In Keith Twitchell's 1980 case, he underwent a polygraph test and a 'truth drug' test to try to establish that this had happened, but the evidence was deemed inadmissible by the court at

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1364-704: The end of 1982, 25 more "supergrasses" had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force . On 11 April 1983, members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. In October 1983, seven people were convicted on

1426-580: The evidence provided by supergrass Kevin McGrady although the trial judge Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry had described McGrady's evidence as "bizarre, incredible and contradictory". The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick . Twenty-four of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986. Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and

1488-410: The experience to a stop. A third group may come to believe in their guilt over time. Thus false confessions are not the product of coercive techniques alone, but these factors can make confessions unsound. Kaye noted five cases where a statement with a confession was presented back to other suspects, and self-incriminating reactions were noted, although not usually signed by the suspects. This evidence

1550-489: The language of the statements were generally very similar, lacking differentiation in phraseology and colloquialisms, whether from Birmingham or the Black Country, nor reflecting the diverse backgrounds of the suspects, who may have been Asian, Afro-Caribbean, from different regions of Britain or Ireland. Only in the case of Afro-Caribbeans did he note any difference, where suspects would use the word 'man', despite using

1612-415: The late 17th century. An alternative claim is made for the term originating from rhyming slang , whereby "grasshopper" is defined as "copper", meaning "policeman". The rhyming slang version was supported in 1950 by lexicographer Paul Tempest, who wrote Grasser. One who gives information. A "squealer" or "squeaker". The origin derives from rhyming slang: grasshopper – copper; a "grass" or "grasser" tells

1674-460: The legislation that enables the use of such evidence. The term has also been used by The Royal Gazette , a daily newspaper in Bermuda, a British overseas territory. An article in the paper used the term to describe a Transport Control Department worker convicted of selling driver's licenses to Portuguese applicants lacking the necessary English skills to pass the multiple choice exam. The worker

1736-478: The number of arrests by SCS had declined to under 200, and remained approximately this low through the 1980s, despite a steady increase in reported crime and arrests made in the West Midlands. As a percentage of arrests made by West Midlands Police as a whole, their work was declining. Furthermore, many of the arrests were in practice for less than serious crimes. Burglary and theft accounted for around half of

1798-510: The organisation's poor management in 1985 and 1989. The West Midlands police claimed that the SCS was being reorganised in 1988, with changes to recruitment practices, just before it was closed down. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 should have changed many practices at the SCS, for instance by introducing the recording of interviews, and was noted as implemented in the 1986 annual report. Subsequent evidence however shows that its provisions were being widely ignored or evaded. Throughout

1860-469: The original statements were generally destroyed, as noted above, making it impossible to make this analysis in most cases. Instead, courts later worked on the assumption that certain officers may have tampered with signed confessions on the basis of previous behaviour, making a conviction unsafe if it relied on this evidence. Many confessions were recorded but not admitted to by defendants. The confessional statements were generally short and undetailed, even in

1922-432: The period 1986 – August 1989 were missing. Kaye concludes that files going missing was "not uncommon" at the SCS. In the case of Gall, this included witness statements from the assault victim which described their assailant as very different in appearance from Gall. This evidence did re-appear, late in the court case, but Gall was still convicted. West Midlands (county) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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1984-530: The problems that Birmingham solicitors had encountered when trying to raise complaints about their clients' cases in relation to the squad. She detailed the apparently widespread practice the squad employed of doctoring statements by adding additional incriminating pages, which was leading to certain convictions being challenged. Nevertheless, the systemic issues at the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad were not being addressed, such as

2046-407: The report recommended that no officers should face criminal charges. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Barbara Mills , agreed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any officer at the squad, a decision for which she was widely criticised. Although no officers were prosecuted for their roles in corrupt investigations, former West Midlands Serious Crime Squad detective Laurence Henry Shaw

2108-484: The report's view and did not attempt to prosecute any officers, and was widely criticised for this decision. The Serious Crime Squad (SCS) was formed in 1974 when the West Midlands Police was created by the Local Government Act 1972 , merging Birmingham City Police with parts of a number of other forces that covered the new West Midlands area. The Squad's roots go back to 1952, when a Special Crime Squad

2170-412: The same language patterns in every other respect. Other evidence for interference with statements comes from the length of the statements. Where the content of the statements is claimed to have been added to, these frequently show implausibly fast note taking. Kaye calculates the transcription rate as being around 30 words a minute, rather than a more typical 20–23 a minute. In John O'Brien's case, DC Shaw

2232-420: The squad was underperforming throughout the 1980s. In 1984, the squad began to rely heavily on ' supergrass ' evidence. These later proved unreliable, but did lead to a number of high-profile arrests. By the mid 1980s, colleagues "resented the 'support ' " of the squad, thus avoided collaboration and referrals, further reducing the squad's ability to pursue serious crime. The District Auditor strongly criticised

2294-461: 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

2356-469: The squad. However, its remit was limited to complaints made after the start of 1986 "when complaints about the squad started to emerge". The question of whether the convictions in the Birmingham pub bombings case were safe was raised at the time, but was considered out of scope and unnecessary by the government. A number of the former SCS officers that had been placed on desk duties were returned to investigatory roles in 1990, after Dear left for another post and

2418-415: The supergrass system was discontinued in 1985 until reintroduction in 2011. The first supergrass trial in 26 years began on 8 September 2011 for the murder of Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member Tommy English . In Northern Ireland the term " tout " is a popular alternative to "grass". The Police Service of Northern Ireland have refused to use this term and prefer the term Assisting Offender , based on

2480-471: The suspects were taken to police stations some distance away from the arrest, in contravention of PACE regulations. Squad car interviews represent an opportunity to interview suspects without a solicitor, and make it relatively easy for officers to claim that incriminating statements were made, including through falsification of signed notes. Signed confessions were shown from Dandy's case onwards to have been tampered with, due to forensic ESDA evidence. However,

2542-573: The term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which led to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of more than 4,000 cumulative years in prison, based on Black's testimony alone (eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986). By

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2604-517: The time. In 1982–83, some of the accused in the Operation Cat convictions made the same allegation. In Derek Treadaway's case, a Home Office pathologist gave evidence that abrasions around his mouth and bruising on his shoulders and chest were consistent with his account of being held down on a chair and "plastic bagged" with his mouth covered. Allegations of violence also declined, with many fewer after 1986, according to Kaye. Explanations for

2666-440: The time. One SCS officer was convicted in 1983 of beating up suspects on the evidence of a police cadet, who was subsequently ostracised and resigned. As violence declined, complaints of threats increased, according to Kaye. Paul Fitzsimmons alleges that he was threatened while in prison with rearrest on release unless he supported the police's account of solicitors asking for bribes in another case, that of Ronnie Bolden. DS McManus

2728-556: Was West Midlands Police policy to transfer the vast majority of documents to microfiche after two years and destroy the originals. Often, the microfiche copies were unreadable. The practice also made it impossible to ascertain if statements had been interfered with through ESDA scanning and analysis. Low level paperwork tasks were supervised by upper management, which was in general too involved in practical work including investigations, distracting from leadership, policy setting and supervision. Management focused on paper-based processes and

2790-466: Was apparently obtained in an interview within fifteen minutes of his departure. Supergrass evidence was used to corroborate evidence from alleged confessions. It did not appear alongside other evidence, according to Kaye, so cases relied on a combination of confession and supergrass evidence. Operation Cat, which included the conviction of Treadaway and Pendle, relied heavily on evidence from supergrass Keith Morgan. Morgan had admitted to 20 offences and

2852-411: Was asked in court to read back his notes from an interview that was marked as having taken 15 minutes: he took 20 minutes to read them back. The case was dropped. In order to make it hard for interviewees to be found by lawyers or relatives, police used haphazard interview locations, often to the annoyance of other police, especially as they would be implicitly tolerating the denial of suspects' rights to

2914-654: Was criticised as being misleading and advising officers to assume guilt in a range of situations where this may not be true. The manual appeared to be a compendium of techniques and experience from officers rather than being based on independent psychological research and evidence. Reactions to interviews are made under stress and therefore need to be treated with caution, however the manual instead offered interpretations of various reactions as likely signs of guilt. The advice included contradictory interpretations of similar reactions, without codifying or recognising this. For instance, insisting on innocence and complaining about treatment

2976-405: Was delayed in every case, except those where no request was made. It appears therefore that the standard practice was to interview suspects with the aim of gaining a confession prior to allowing them a solicitor. Nevertheless, this did not stop the confession evidence from being used in successful trials. In some cases, suspects were forced to sign custody records stating that they had not requested

3038-491: Was formed on an experimental basis. It successfully dealt with a number of metal thieves, a crime that had grown due to the growth of scrap metal collection from bomb sites in the post-War era. A second Regional Crime Squad was formed, to deal with crimes outside of Birmingham, with officers from neighbouring counties. In 1960, when the squad was known as the Birmingham Crime Squad, it detected over 1,060 crimes

3100-467: Was given little management training. Junior officers appeared to have a practical veto on new recruits. Management practice was sufficiently poor for misleading statements to be made by the squad to external authorities. For instance, it told the Court of Appeal that officers had been disciplined after interference with witness statements, but that the changes did not include "incriminating admissions", which

3162-438: Was granted a conditional discharge in exchange for information on other Transport Control Department employees abusing the public trust. One of the most prolific supergrasses in recent British history was Michael Michael whose evidence in 2001 led to 32 criminals being convicted, including his own mother, and the disruption of a £132 million drug ring. The term was used to describe Girolamo Bruzzese after his brother Marcello

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3224-561: Was later convicted of attempted robbery in Solihull in 2001 and in 2010 for armed robbery in Lostwithiel, Cornwall . The SCS suffered from a number of issues, ranging from poor recruitment and management practices, to well-documented and repeated techniques of falsification. Poor management led to poor performance, which in turn exacerbated the pressure on officers to take shortcuts. The SCS had an 'elite' ethos, which may have induced

3286-405: Was prosecuted himself for a small number of offences, admitting to nearly 70, and sentenced to six years in jail, the light sentence being part of the deal for giving evidence against others. He later wrote to the solicitors of those he had implicated to explain that his evidence was made under duress. Once convicted, he refused to make any further statements for the police. Allegations were made in

3348-687: Was published in 1994 and concluded that there had been "physical abuse of prisoners, fabrication of admissions, planting of evidence and mishandling of informants". However, just seven officers faced disciplinary action as a result of the report, for 28 disciplinary complaints. One officer faced a complaint about tampering with a statement, while the other six were suspected of irregularities relating to payments to informers. A further ten officers would have faced 20 complaints, but had left or retired. Another 102 officers were given informal advice about their failures to adhere to police procedures. The disciplinary procedures were conducted as an internal matter. However,

3410-521: Was replaced by Ronald Hadfield . The Civil Liberties Trust funded Birmingham University legal academic Tim Kaye to lead an independent inquiry, backed by an advisory panel including Clare Short and the Bishop of Birmingham Mark Santer . It reported in 1991, three years before the official inquiry, and presented evidence of systemic malpractice and patterns of fabrication of evidence and other procedural abuses by specific officers. The official PCA report

3472-576: Was responsible for the investigation of the Bridgewater Four . At least 40 convictions failed in the 1980s as a result of likely malpractice , including tampering with evidence. 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

3534-516: Was sentenced to five years in return for the evidence he presented. Morgan was not a reliable witness, however. He had also alleged that a Merseyside police officer helped him plan some robberies and demanded payment. These allegations were dismissed after an investigation. The fact of this allegation and its unreliability was not available to the defence of those he had accused. Supergrass Albert McCabe implicated over 100 suspects from 1986, many of whom were prosecuted, but whose cases later collapsed. He

3596-649: Was signalled in different parts of the manual as both indicating innocence and guilt. The Guardian concluded that West Midlands Police should "adopt the approach of Mersey scheme, with its emphasis on teaching the police to listen and frame questions. Research shows the biggest mistake in interrogation is the failure to listen to what is said". There was a lax approach to the pairing of officers for interview. Officers who are less familiar with each other should be put together to reduce risks of poor or illegal practice. A number of regular pairings of interviewing officers seems to have led to collaboration in falsifying evidence. It

3658-414: Was then used in their convictions. For instance, Foran was noted as saying "What can I say? It's all there isn't it?" Boswell was recorded as saying "That fucking bastard, I'll kill him ... we all agreed to make our own statements if caught and I can't make one against my own will, can I?" Several confessions were said by police officers to have taken place in a squad car immediately after arrest. Sometimes,

3720-503: Was threatened with a syringe, with police saying they would give him injections, which he feared, if he did not sign. A witness in the case of PC Salt's murder also alleges that she was intimidated and shouted at while being told to implicate the others involved, while the main suspects were threatened with the murder charges if they did not confess to his robbery. In some cases, the SCS was accused of fabricating forensic evidence. Ronnie Bolden alleged that police rubbed his shoes and socks on

3782-401: Was told to sign a confession. Her children were brought to the police station, despite prior agreement that they were to stay with their grandmother, with the effect of making her extremely concerned about how they were being treated. She signed the confession, but it later came to light that she had difficulty reading so was unlikely to have understood its contents. George Lewis alleged that he

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3844-454: Was wholly untrue. This led to the appeals of Horobin and Wilcox being turned down in 1988. The SCS often relied on confession evidence to the exclusion of other kinds of evidence, despite the fact that it is inherently unreliable. Sometimes this can simply be due to the presence of authority and the expectation to confess. It can be due to stress factors in interviews. Given a certain level of stress, some interviewees will confess simply to bring

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