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Justice for Andy Martin gig

Posted: Sat, 04 Apr 2009

Tonight there is an important benefit gig to raise awareness of what this campaign believes is the wrongful imprisonment of a Reading constituent Andy Martin. The MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE ORGANISATION, SCOTLAND, which is run by John McManus and Paddy Hill of the Birmingham 6 will be present at RISC to give a presentation on this case and their concerns about how the British legal system is now able to convict on purely circumstantial evidence in conspiracy cases in England. Nowadays conspiracy charges do not seem to require corroborative evidence.

On the 3^rd of September 2007, following a two-month trial at Reading Crown Court, Andrew John Martin was convicted, with others, of conspiracy to supply cocaine and, further convicted of possession of a prohibited weapon contrary to section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968. He was sentenced to 5 years for each charge, to be run consecutively and he has now served 19 months of a 10-year prison sentence.

He has supporters numbering in the hundreds, a diverse and credible group of people, galvanised in their outrage at Andy’s conviction and imprisonment purely on circumstantial evidence, supported by his possession of – a non-modified, blank-firing replica pistol kept as a stage prop. The prosecution bizarrely managed to convince the jury that blutacking a ball bearing to the end of this replica could convert it into a lethal barrelled weapon. No blutack or ball bearings were found with Andy or at his home, it had not been modified or tested in this way, or any other way, at any time.

Andy is a well-respected and very well known figure in the Reading local music and amateur dramatic scene. He is a kind, generous and altruistic character and to the many, who know him, is considered above all to be reliable and honest. Andy has no previous convictions for anything.

Many of us, in addition to being numb with disbelief at this unbelievable miscarriage of justice, have considerable concern for the wider implications of this case and the apparent increased use of conspiracy charges by the Police to achieve convictions based on speculation in the absence of direct evidence, presented as circumstantial evidence.

It is becoming clear that conspiracy cases are becoming common, especially if the police have no direct evidence, because it is more possible to gain a conviction with only circumstantial evidence. Unfortunately we understand that in conspiracy cases there is always what they call ‘collateral damage’. For an explanation of what collateral damage may mean perhaps the following comment sheds light? The late Lord Denning said ‘It is better that a few innocent people remain in prison than the integrity of the British legal system be impugned’

Our concerns on this method are further supported by the fact that there was no direct or indirect evidence against Andy for the conspiracy, and those of us who attended the trial saw the prosecution pursue Andy by pure speculation and a reversal of the burden of proof. Andy basically had to prove he was innocent! Whilst it is easy to prove you know something it can be very difficult to prove that you DON’T know something. When Andy’s barrister pointed out, at the end of the 2-month trial, that there was no corroborative evidence to link Andy to this conspiracy; the judge remarked ‘Well of course we know that, but what we are dealing with here is circumstantial evidence – he could have done it!’

MOJO is now actively working to secure justice for Andy and soon a full summary of the case will be on their website. This is only one of eight cases that MOJO are currently pursuing following their success in overturning the convictions of Colin Stagg and Barry George. Many of Andy’s friends will also be at the benefit gig, to show their support and we have an impressive line up of entertainment to celebrate the gathering momentum of this exciting campaign. For those of you who don’t know about Andy’s case there will be plenty of opportunity to find out more on the night.

For tickets go to www.justiceforandymartin.org.uk or £5 on the door.