The Fresh Evidence That Brought
Freedom
The
following article was printed on 24 December 2004 in various Greater
Manchester newspapers.
The fresh evidence that brought freedom
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 ath 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.
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" 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 the alarm in
the truck on July 3, 19995 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.
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.
A campaigner for Mr Power, Scott Lomax, said: "They may face another
trial but it is difficult to comprehend how a jury could convict when there
is no real evidence against them."
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