Conviction of three killers at risk over police trial ‘blunder’

A MURDER trial that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds may have to be reheard after a police officer connected to the case was accused of failing to declare that she knew one of the jurors.

Three men convicted of the ‘joint enterprise’ murder of Lynford Brewster received combined sentences of 90 years in one of the most high-profile murder cases of recent years.

Mr Brewster, 29, was stabbed three times near his home and died on the spot. His three killers – Dwayne Edgar, 29; Jake Whelan, 24, both from Cardiff; and Robert Lainsbury, from Kidderminster – were sentenced last year.

But now, in a deeply embarrassing disclosure for police, it has emerged that a police support officer who helped Mr Brewster’s family during the trial – and sat in court with them – knew one of the jurors.

The female officer is now under investigation for failing to declare to the court that one of the jurors was the girlfriend of her son.

The juror also failed to declare during her swearing-in that she knew the police liaison officer involved in the case, it is claimed. South Wales Police, which investigated the murder, has launched an inquiry after receiving a complaint from a solicitor of one of the defendants, the police force confirmed last night.

Mr Brewster, who was involved in a drug-running operation, was killed in Cardiff last June. Police found 31 heroin wraps and 14 of cocaine on his body.

Judicial expert Harry Fletcher, who runs the Voice4Victims group, said: ‘This is likely to be a contempt of court breach by both the police officer and the juror.’