Conviction Unsafe As Guard Suffered Stress
The following article was printed on 24 December 2004 in various Greater Manchester newspapers.
Conviction unsafe as guard suffered stress
FRESH evidence showing that Graham Huckerby was suffering from "post traumatic stress disorder" at the time of the robbery threw serious doubt on the safety of his conviction, according to the Court of Appeal.
The gang who carried out the gunpoint raid in Salford in July 1995 were never caught, but Mr Huckerby, who was guarding the van at the time, was jailed along with James Power, for assisting the robbers.
On Tuesday judges sitting at London's Court of Appeal declared the convictions of both men "unsafe".
Mr Huckerby was jailed for 14 years in April 2002, and Mr Power, of Hornby Street, Bury, received the same sentence. He was said to have recruited Mr Huckerby to the team and been his handler.
Both men denied any involvement in the robbery, and said they were merely drinking partners.
Lord Justice Potter, sitting with Mr Justice Butterfield and Mr Justice Tugendhat, said fresh evidence which showed Mr Huckerby was suffering from "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD), "acute stress disorder" and "severe depressive reaction" at the time of the robbery threw serious doubt on the safety of his conviction.
The case against him was so inextricably linked to Mr Power's, that the second man's conviction must also be quashed.
It was the Crown's case that Mr Huckerby's failure to activate alarm mechanisms in the truck on July 3, 1995 showed it was an inside job.
But, said, Lord Justice Potter, the fresh evidence suggested Mr Huckerby was still suffering mental scars from a violent robbery a year earlier when his workmate was stabbed, and that could explain why he did not sound the alarm.
If the jury at his trial had been presented with the evidence, said the judge, they may have reached different verdicts.
The judge added that at the time of the robbery Mr Huckerby had a gun held to his head and was scared that if he made a move to trigger a tracking device he would be shot.
The robbers later chained him to a fence in Hope Street, Salford, after hi-jacking the van at a sorting office and taking most of its contents.
Describing the case against Mr Huckerby as "entirely circumstantial", Lord Justice Potter added one of the principle arguments the Crown had relied on was a series of payments made into his bank account in the months after the robbery.
But, said the judge, the cash deposits totalled £2,500 over the period of a year following the robbery, when the raid had netted £4.25 million in cash. And he added the biggest payment of £600 turned out to have been from Huckerby's mother.
Greater Manchester Police said it would study the findings of the court in detail.
Supt David Brown said: "We will be reviewing the judgement and we will take counsel's advice. The matter will be discussed in detail with the Crown Prosecution Service prior to any decision being taken as to whether to apply for a re-trial. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
A campaigner for Mr Power, Scott Lomax, said: "They may have to face another trial but they have the freedom they rightly deserve and it is difficult to comprehend how any jury could now convict when there is no real evidence against either man. Both Shay and Graham are innocent. By granting Shay and Graham their freedom the appeal judges have helped end this nightmare once and for all."
To return to the menu of articles in which I am referred to please click here
|