Simmons, Stephen

Stephen Simmons was arrested and prosecuted by the British Transport Police for theft in transit – stealing mailbags from a train at Clapham Goods Yard in South London. He was tried at Inner London Crown Court in April 1976.

Mr Simmons pleaded not guilty but was convicted. He was 20 years old and was sent to Borstal (a youth detention centre). The Judge also made an order for the confiscation of Mr Simmons’ car.

Mr Simmons was advised that he should not appeal against his conviction.

In 2013, Mr Simmons called a legal phone-in on LBC Radio to ask for advice about what he could do in light of the fact that he felt he and his co-defendants had been wrongly convicted.

As a result, Mr Simmons searched the internet for mention of the police officer who led the case against him. He learned that, two years after his own conviction, the police officer involved, Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell, had been arrested and subsequently jailed for a similar “theft in transit” offence.

Mr Simmons then applied to the CCRC in August 2013.

The CCRC decided to refer Mr Simmons’ conviction to the Court of Appeal. The case was referred on the basis of new evidence relating to:

· Circumstances surrounding the exclusion of another confession obtained by DS Ridgwell in a separate goods in transit case.

· Acquittals and judicial observations about unreliable police evidence and fabricated confessions in other cases where DS Ridgewell was the lead officer.

· DS Ridgewell’s conviction for conspiracy to steal goods in transit.

The CCRC considered that the new evidence gave rise to a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would overturn Mr Simmons’ conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in August 2017.

The Court of Appeal quashed in January 2018.