Miah, Forid

Forid Miah was convicted in July 1996 of manslaughter and received a sentence of four years’ imprisonment.

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

Mr Miah was one of five men indicted for murder. It was common ground that the victim’s death had been caused by a stab wound delivered by one of the co-accused.

There was evidence that all the men had been involved in the attack by striking blows with implements or with fists and feet, so the prosecution’s case against the four individuals who did not wield the murder weapon was based on the doctrine of “joint enterprise.”

The individual who used the knife had arrived at the scene of the attack in the company of one other man a short while after the original three men had first confronted the victim (as the result of a minor motoring incident).

The two later arrivals were convicted of murder, whilst Mr Miah and the remaining accused were convicted of manslaughter.

The trial took place in 1998 and preceded the House of Lords’ decision in the key case of R v Powell and English (1999).

Therefore, the trial judge’s direction on joint enterprise, although “impeccable” by contemporary standards, did not direct the jury that before they could convict they had to be sure that those taking part in the attack were aware that one of their number might use a knife on the victim.

The CCRC referred the conviction on this basis in April 1998.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in May 1998 and ordered a retrial.