Deans, Victor

Victor Deans was convicted in November 1989 of supplying cannabis, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and suffering or permitting the production of a Class A drug (cocaine).

Mr Deans received a sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in June 1998.

The evidence against Mr Deans consisted in part of testimony from three officers of the West Midlands Police Drug Squad (WMDS).

All three of these officers were later discredited as witnesses of truth after they were found to have committed various offences.

This followed the findings of an internal investigation conducted by the West Midlands Police named “Operation Gunter”, involving the investigation of a number of criminal allegations made against members of the WMDS.

The CCRC concluded that the discrediting of the three officers, alongside procedural irregularities in the case such as the failure to maintain a proper observation log, meant that there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would find Mr Deans’ conviction to be unsafe.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2003.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in July 2004.