The First Miscarriage of Justice

The 'Unreported and Amazing' Case of Tony Stock

Robins, Jon, Mansfield, Michael

• Publisher: Waterside Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781909976122
• eBook ISBN: 9781908162793

'I would have been the first miscarriage of justice… There was this spate of cases: the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four and Cardiff Three. Each one was another nail in my coffin': Tony Stock, 2008. The story of Tony Stock is astonishing: deeply disturbing it sent out ripples of disquiet when he was sentenced to ten years for robbery at Leeds Assizes in 1970. Over the next 40 years the case went to the Court of Appeal four times and has the distinction of being the first to have been referred to that court twice by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Tony Stock died in 2012 still fighting to clear his name: spending from his meagre savings to hire private investigators and hoping beyond hope to see justice.Reviews'The story of Tony Stock should be mandatory reading for everyone, not merely those involved with the laws. It concerns the quality of our criminal justice system and its serious reluctance and unwillingness to root out injustice': Michael Mansfield QC. 'One of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice of modern times': Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield.In the Press'If anyone seriously believes the Court of Appeal has reformed itself since the dark days of the Birmingham Six and Bridgewater Four, they should study the unreported and amazing case of Tony Stock': Private Eye. 'I would have thought that the injustice done to Tony (Stock) was fairly self-evident and yet his conviction still stands. I find this very difficult to accept': Ralph Barrington, investigations adviser at the Criminal Cases Review Commission. 'The fight for justice that will not die': Yorkshire Post.AuthorJon Robins uses Stock's epic campaign as a way of exploring the treatment of miscarriages of justice over the last four decades. He has been writing about law and justice for the national and specialist press for many years, including about the Stock case for The Times, Guardian and others. He is the founder of www.thejusticegap.com (an online magazine about law and justice).The ForewordMike Mansfield is one of the country's leading lawyers. Known for his campaigning-style and preparedness to see representation for all, he is the author of Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer (Bloomsbury, 2010).

Index

A

Abbey Cwm Hir 146

access

information 177

lawyers 74

accountability 71

accusatory system 144

alibi x, 22, 26, 38–41, 59, 63, 93, 127–131, 153, 160, 171, 194, 213, 223–228, 238

ammonia 32, 112, 205

anger 93, 149, 242

angle-grinders 113

Angus, James 86

anxiety 78, 138, 242

Apfel, Freddie 83

appeal 89, 125, 209

Archbold 203

army 30

arrest 26

artist’s impression 206

Ashman, Peter 95

Aspden, Kester 87

austerity 221

B

Baird, Vera QC 159, 235

Baker, Kenneth 151, 152

Baker QC 41, 45–46

Banstead robbery 111, 115

Barker, Ronald 104, 160

Barrington, Ralph 197, 200, 223, 236

Beaumont, Jack 101

Bedford Gaol 181

Beith, Alan MP 221

Benefield, Samuel 115–118, 124, 130, 153–158, 166–172, 200

Bennathan, Joel QC 229

bent coppers 200

Bentley, Derek 181

Berlins, Marcel 159

beyond reasonable doubt 216, 242

Biffen, John MP 135, 138

‘Big Bad John’ 115

Billingham, Cleveland 116

Bingham, Lord x, 210, 232

Birmingham Six xv, 130, 150, 165, 214

bitterness 242

Black, Barrington 122, 129...

Table of contents

• Copyright and publication details
• Arrest photo of Tony Stock.
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Foreword by Michael Mansfield QC
• Dedication
• The Identikit image of Tony Stock.
• Introduction
• ‘Just another robbery by a bunch of third-rate criminals’
• How Do You Prove a Negative?
• ‘His word against mine’
• Prisoner Number 650603
• Chainsaws and Supergrasses
• Degrees of Innocence
• Don’t Quit
• A Fantastic Hypothesis
• The Unattainable Truth
• Judges in the Spotlight
• Unfinished Business
• Index