A group of black men – known as the “Oval Four” – who were jailed in the 1970s for theft and assaulting police could be cleared of their crimes almost 50 years later.
Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine “Omar” Boucher were arrested at Oval Underground station in 1972 after they were accused by police of stealing handbags.
They were charged with attempting to steal, theft and assault of the police.
The four men were eventually jailed for two years following a five-week trial at the Old Bailey. Although their jail terms were reduced on appeal to eight months, the conviction stood.
However, nearly five decades later, the body tasked with investigating miscarriages of justice has agreed to re-examine cases led by the officer who orchestrated their conviction.
Trew and Christie’s cases have been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after a conviction involving the same investigating officer was successfully appealed last year.
However, the commission has not yet been able to trace Boucher or Griffiths.
Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell’s usual tactic was to confront young black men at Tube stations and accuse them of theft as well as assaulting police officers if they resisted arrest, PA Media reported.
He would then make up incriminating remarks he claimed they had made, the outlet said.
It led to a string of high-profile and controversial convictions, until eventually a judge threw out a case brought against two young Jesuits studying at Oxford University.
Judge Gwynn Morris said at the time: “I find it terrible that, here in London, people using public transport should be pounced upon by police officers without a word.”
Ridgewell was shifted into a department investigating mailbag theft, where he joined up with two criminals with whom he would split the profits of stolen mailbags.
He was eventually caught and jailed for seven years, dying of a heart attack in prison in 1982 at the age of 37.
Last year, a conviction against another man Ridgewell had accused – Stephen Simmons – was quashed by the CCRC.
In a statement, the CCRC said it “considers there is a real possibility that the court will quash the conviction” because of the subsequent conviction of Ridgewell and Simmons’ successful appeal.
It also cited the acquittals of three other London Underground cases investigated by Ridgewell – the Waterloo Four, the Stockwell Six and the Tottenham Court Road Two.
The CCRC added: “The commission is aware of the potential significance that this case may have in a number of other similar convictions.
“We have determined to try to contact relevant individuals if appropriate when the Court of Appeal has decided the appeal of Mr Trew and Mr Christie.”
