Christie, Stirling

Christie Stirling and his co-defendants, Winston Trew, George Griffiths and Constantine Boucher, were convicted at the Old Bailey on 8th November 1972. All four men were convicted of assaulting a police officer and attempted theft. Mr Christie was also convicted of the theft of a police woman’s handbag.

The co-defendants, who became known as the Oval Four, had been arrested on 16th March 1972 at Oval Station on the London Underground by a special patrol set up to target thefts on the Northern Line. The operation was led by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell who was also the key prosecution witness.

All four men were aged between 19 and 23 when arrested, were of Jamaican origin, had moved to the UK as children, and were living in South London.

Messrs Trew and Christie and one other defendant were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. The youngest defendant was sent to Borstal (a youth detention centre).

All four men appealed. Their appeals against conviction failed but the appeals against sentence succeeded and the prison sentences were reduced from two years to eight months.

After his release Mr Trew made a complaint to the police and continued to protest his innocence. He wrote about his experience in a book, Black for a Cause…Not Just Because…, which he published in 2010.

In 2013 Mr Trew took legal advice about the possibility of contesting his conviction but took no further action.

The CCRC contacted Mr Trew during the course of its investigation into the case of Stephen Simmons.

Mr Simmons had been arrested by DS Ridgewell in 1975 and convicted of theft on the basis of Ridgewell’s evidence. The CCRC investigated Mr Simmons’ case and referred it to the Court of Appeal where, in January 2018, his conviction was quashed, largely because of the misconduct of DS Ridgewell.

DS Ridgewell had pleaded guilty in 1980 to conspiracy to steal and had been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He died in prison in 1982.

Mr Trew formally applied to the CCRC after the Court of Appeal quashed Mr Simmons’ conviction. The CCRC contacted Mr Christie shortly after receiving Mr Trew’s application. The other two co-defendants could not then be traced.

Having reviewed the convictions of Messrs Trew and Christie the CCRC decided to refer their convictions to the Court of Appeal. The referral was made because the CCRC considered that there was a real possibility the Court would quash the convictions on the basis of new evidence and arguments concerning the integrity of DS Ridgewell including:

· The conviction of DS Ridgewell in 1978.

· The successful appeal of Mr Simmons (R v Simmons [2018] EWCA Crim 114) on a referral by the CCRC and observations of the Lord Chief Justice in that judgment.

· The significance of judicial comment and acquittals in three other London Underground cases investigated by DS Ridgewell: R v Freeman, Gordon, Morgan and Morris (the “Waterloo 4”) at Southwark Juvenile Court in April 1972; R v Chikuri and Swelah (the “Tottenham Court Road 2”) at the Central Criminal Court in April 1973; and R v Mullins, Davison, De Souza, Green, Harriott and Johnson (the “Stockwell 6”) at the Central Criminal Court in September 1972.

· The quashing of the conviction of Mr Hasan (R v Hasan, Peterkin, Campbell and Ogunshola, 13 January 1978) which raised concerns about the credibility of DS Ridgewell.

The CCRC referred the conviction in October 2019.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in December 2019.