JENGbA News

ISSUE 6

“You’re not alone”

April/May 2011

From our Campaign Co-ordinator: Dear Friends

We must apologise for the delay in getting this edition of our newsletter to you. Sadly a combination of circumstances, including me losing my darling mum to cancer, meant there have been inevitable delays in our endeavours. Please be assured the campaign committee is a strong group of committed volunteers and we will not be deterred in our fight to highlight the misuse of this law. I was told by a prisoner that many of you will be concerned because of the lack of an update and deepest apologies for that but it may happen from time to time because of natural circumstances. The campaign has again had some good developments. The House of Commons meeting was well attended though we have since learnt that families may not have received details via email until too late. A number of MP’s attended and families travelled down from Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and our patron Jimmy McGovern was there as was Lord Ouseley, MP’s and a reporter from the BBC.

There is also the retrial on going of Kelvin Horlock, Marvin Service and 2 others. When JENGbA campaigners attended the Court wearing our sweatshirts we were told we would not be allowed back into the trial wearing them. I am sure you join us in wishing those guys the best of luck in the coming weeks. As you will be aware we are a grass roots campaign, trying to raise an awareness of this archaic law. However the biggest demand from most prisoners is for legal assistance which we as volunteers and ‘amateurs’ cannot offer as we simply do not have the expertise. However, we recently held a meeting with a highly reputable law firm and Tooks Chambers in regard to setting up a Joint Enterprise Unit. This meeting went extremely well. Tooks is the leading human rights chambers in the country and a separate letter will go out to you very soon regarding this unit and how it might assist you. Tough times indeed, but please stay strong, spread the word and contact your MP and let them know you are being supported by our campaign. GLORIA MORRISON

The film screening went extremely well and the film is being very well received. It has been suggested we put it into film festivals up and down the country so if your supporters want to get a copy and pursue that please let us know. It is also a good resource for your supporters if you have them to copy and show to others. It will also be going on our website next week. The jury in the first trial for the Sofyen Belamouadden death at Victoria Train station, where 21 young people have been charged with murder, have come back with guilty verdicts for the first six in the dock, though not all have been convicted of murder. This is the biggest murder trial in British history. JENGbA is making the public aware that so many young people are being given prison sentences for the actions of one or two idiots.

Supporters at the House of Commons meeting

!!!!!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!

Cont’d….

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USEFUL LINKS www.innocent.org.uk www.unitedagainstinjustice.org.uk www.insidetime.org Offenders' Families Helpline 0808 808 2003 Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Sat & Sun 10am-3pm

JENGbA is delighted to announce that the BBC have commissioned a script on Joint Enterprise by our Patron, Jimmy McGovern. We are hoping this will mean our story WILL be told! Watch this space for further news.

Supporters at the Notting Hill Coronet where the premiere of the JENGbA film was shown

House of Commons meeting: I was given the opportunity to speak at the House of Commons meeting for a second time. This year I spoke about Commander Simon Foy of Scotland Yards’ Serious Crime Squad, who claims that to gain a JE conviction “We have to have a really strong burden of proof to prove it”. Of course this is part of JENGbA’s argument, because in many cases this is not true and people are now serving life sentences because of very flimsy evidence. My speech was to inform family members to contact the likes of Commander Simon Foy and inform him of their experiences of JE and ask him to explain why he is misinforming the public on the reality of JE. It must now be our priority to inform and educate the public correctly in order to gain any headway with the campaign. Jean Taylor from Families Fighting for Justice also spoke at the meeting. She spoke on how she campaigns on behalf of the victims of crime. You would think that someone like Jean would promote JE to gain convictions at all cost, and up until very recently she did. She is now beginning to realise that JE not only lets down the victims of crime, but that it also convicts the innocent. Her message now is “Joint Enterprise does NOT work” And after the meeting she was both shocked and inspired by the stories of your family members and informed me that she would now be happy to help JENGbA get that strong message out there. It is a long slog but the meeting inspired me to not only continue to fight for Justice for my son Jordan Cunliffe, but to fight for justice for all the wrongly convicted. Letter from one of our supporters who attended the Janet Cunliffe House of Commons meeting:

I am so pleased that JENGbA is getting our message out to the general public who are mainly unaware of the shocking miscarriages of justice suffered by the innocent people in prison for something they have not done having been convicted of the 300 year old joint enterprise law. I was shocked that more and more cases were turning up, this is not what is assumed of the British Justice system, that we lock up people for life for something that they did not do. This is something that people imagine only happens in so called third world countries or those with oppressive regimes, not England. It’s clear that patterns are emerging - such as missing evidence, lost cctv and the assumption of guilt just simply on association. One parent present had sold her home and had been forced to give up work due to ill health over her battle for justice for her son. This is shocking that as tax payers we have a struggle to fight these cases due to cuts and restrictions in legal aid, whilst the police and prosecution have all the funds and rights to obtain whatever they want. This is not fair and it is the corrosion of fairness that is the most appalling.

We want to hear from YOU – please get in touch and don’t forget to ask your family and friends to inform your local MP about our campaign. Tell them about your case and give them a link to our website (see contact details below).

Gloria’s Mum (R.I.P.) helping to get the Newsletters out

A staunch supporter of JENGbA

Write to us at JENGbA, 27 Old Gloucester Road, LONDON WC1N 3AX Email: [email protected] Phone: 07709 115 793 www.jointenterprise.co Our volunteers and supporters put together this newsletter and help to get it printed. Our biggest cost at the moment is postage. If families would like to help please send postage stamps to us at our address above. Thank you

JOINT ENTERPRISE IS A COURT FULL OF LIES!