MURDERERS WHO COULD EXPLOIT LEGAL CHAOS
A NUMBER of killers could now seek to have their convictions overturned, but not all are likely to benefit from the Supreme Court’s ruling. High-profile cases include:
COULD BENEFIT
JORDAN CUNLIFFE: He was given a life sentence, along with Adam Swellings and Stephen Sorton, for kicking father of three Garry Newlove to death outside his home in Warrington in 2007. Cunliffe, 16 at the time, was present at the attack, but his mother Janet has claimed he did not strike Mr Newlove and would not have been able to see the killing as he suffers from an eye condition that has left him blind. In 2014, the Criminal Cases Review Commission said it was investigating Cunliffe’s case after highlighting ‘several issues’ in an application from him.
ALEX HENRY: He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for a murder that took place during a 47- second street brawl in Ealing, West London, in 2013. Henry, then 20, ran towards a confrontation involving his friend Cameron Ferguson. During the fight that ensued, Ferguson grabbed a knife and stabbed brothers Taqui and Bourhane Khezihi. Taqui later died. When Henry was sentenced at the Old Bailey in 2014, the judge said he knew his friend was carrying a knife, although he denied this.
THE KILLERS OF SOFYEN BELAMOUADDEN: A 16-strong gang of knife-wielding youths chased Sofyen Belamouadden through Victoria station in London before stabbing him to death during the evening rush hour in 2010. The group regarded the station as their ‘territory’ and targeted Belamouadden despite the fact that he did not belong to a gang. He was stabbed nine times during a 12-second attack. In a series of cases lasting two years, 16 youths were convicted over the killing, including three for murder and six for manslaughter. Legal experts said the scale of the case and difficulty in proving who exactly was involved could leave it open to appeal.
UNLIKELY TO BENEFIT
DAVID NORRIS AND GARY DOBSON: The pair were convicted in 2012 for the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence. They were members of a gang of racist thugs, and joint enterprise laws were used to sentence them to life imprisonment over the 1993 attack on 18year-old Stephen in Eltham, southeast London. During sentencing, Mr Justice Treacy acknowledged the evidence did not prove which member of the group had carried the knife, but told the pair: ‘You intended very serious injury.’ This factor of intent means that any appeal would be highly unlikely to succeed.