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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Conspiracy to commit theft |
Sentence: |
1 year |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.67 |
Year Crime: |
1975 |
Year Convicted: |
1976 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
London |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Stephen Simmons was wrongly convicted in 1976 of stealing mailbags in London. Simmons was 20 when he and two friends were arrested in the Clapham district of south-west London in June 1975 by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell of the British Transport Police robbery squad, which was intended to combate subway crime. Ridgewell claimed the three young men made incriminating remarks concerning the mailbag theft. The three young men denied making any statement implicating them in the crime. They were advised by their solicitor to pled guilty and throw themselves on the mercy of the court, because the judge would increase their sentence if they pled not guilty and pursued a defense that Ridgwell was lying. After their conviction, Simmons was sentenced to a year in prison, and he served eight months before being released on parole. In 2013 Simmons called barrister Daniel Barnett's legal advice program on LBC radio and explained he had been wrongly convicted four decades earlier because the police officer lied that he made admissions about the crime. Barnett suggested that as a starting point to try and find new evidence he could Google the name of his arresting officer to see what he could find out about him. Simmons Googled Ridgewell. He discovered that in 1980 Ridgewell was convicted of conspiracy to steal 11 van-loads of parcels worth a total of £367,000. Ridgewell was assigned to investigating mail thefts and he was able to deflect attention from the career criminals who were actually committing the thefts, and with whom he shared the proceeds. Ridgewell was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, but he had served only two years when he died in prison in 1982 from a heart attack at the age of 37. Simmons contacted the Criminal Case Review Commission, which agreed to investigate his case. Key evidence in the CCRC's investigation was first reported in the 2012 book "Black for a Cause ... Not Just Because" (TaoFish Books), written by Winston N. Trew. The book contained information Trew largely acquired through Britain's Freedom of Information Act, about Ridgewell's years of using his position as a BT police officer to frame innocent people. Winston Trew researched and wrote the book because he was a victim of a Ridgewell frame-up specialty -- falsely accusing young black men of committing a mugging on the London Underground (subway). Trew and three friends, who the press dubbed "The Oval 4," were falsely accused by Ridgewell in March 1972 of assault and theft on the London Underground. The Oval 4 were confronted by Ridgewell who accused them of pickpocketing and stealing a lady's handbag, and when they denied it a fight broke out between Trew and his friends and Ridgewell and other plainsclothes officers. Based primarily on Ridgewell's evidence, the four were convicted in October 1972 and sentenced to two years in custody. The CCRC submitted Simmons' case to the Court of Appeals. On January 17, 2018 Simmons' conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeals for England and Wales based on the new evidence Ridgewell had no credibility as a prosecution witness, because circumstantial evidence supported that he and his cohorts actually committed the mail theft Simmons and his two codefendants had been convicted of committing. The appeals court said, "It is an exceptional case.” Trew, now 67 and a retired sociology lecturer, was present in the courtroom when Simmons conviction was quashed. Trew told reporters: "Today is a great day. This opens the door for me to present my case. It means that evidence that Ridgewell gave in our trial is as tainted as in Stephen’s case." In July 1973 the Court of Appeal denied the appeal by Trew and his three codefendants, in spite of new evidence they presented that Ridgewell had fabricated a key piece of evidence. However, during the hearing the appeals court did reduce the sentence of the four to one year. Since they had already served eight months, they were released the next day." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Perjury by DS Derek Ridgewell of the British Transport Police, who was actually a part of the criminal gang that stole the mailbags." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On January 17, 2018 Simmons' conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeals for England and Wales based on the new circumstantial evidence that Ridgewell and his cohorts actually committed the mail theft Simmons and his two codefendants had been convicted of committing. The appeals court said, "It is an exceptional case.”" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
20 |
Age When Released: |
21 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Man convicted of theft in 1976 cleared after Googling his arresting officer, By Duncan Campbell, The Guardian (London), January 17, 2018" |
Information Location 1: |
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/17/man-convicted-of-theft-in-1976-cleared-after-googling-his-arresting-officer |
Information Source 2: |
"Man convicted of stealing mailbags is cleared 43 years later after GOOGLING corrupt cop’s name: Stephen Simmons, 62, was detained by DS Derek Ridgewell in Clapham, South London, in June 1975, By Gemma Mullin, The Sun (London, UK), January 18, 2018" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5367821/man-convicted-of-stealing-mailbags-is-cleared-43-years-later-after-googling-corrupt-cops-name/ |
Information Source 3: |
"How a ‘bent’ policeman could be key to clearing a man’s name, 40 years on, By Duncan Campbell, The Guardian (London), August 28, 2017" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/aug/28/stephen-simmons-arrested-mailbag-theft-1976-hopes-clear-his-name |
Information Source 4: |
"One man's fight to clear name 'ruined' by racist bent copper who framed him 45 years ago: The policeman who put away Winston Trew, DS Derek Ridgewell, was later jailed for seven years for theft, By Roger Baird, International Business Times, October 9, 2017" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/one-mans-fight-clear-name-ruined-by-racist-bent-copper-who-framed-him-45-years-ago-1642308 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org