This is to flag up the case of Gary Critchley who is still in prison for an alleged murder at Campbell Buildings in 1980 – see recent posts on Bob Short’s Trash Can book thread for more details and also the official website and also this website.
The challenge is to get this miscarriage of justice overturned.
But how? I suggest it needs a twin track approach
Firstly to raise the public profile (as Jock has suggested) via myspace / facebook / blog sites like KYPP – for example by putting a slide show of Gary’s paintings plus a relevant soundtrack eg Raised in a Prison by the Mob on youtube or organising a UK exhibition of Gary’s paintings…
Secondly using official channels eg letters to your MP and the Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP
Home Secretary 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF.
Gary is also being supported by Wendy Thurley and Julie Coimbra.
Julie and Wendy are librarians in Cambridge and contacted KYPP about the case.
Julie said [edited]:
“Myself and another librarian have become involved in trying to publicize this extraordinary miscarriage of justice. We happened to purchase some of Gary’s paintings and began corresponding with him without ever asking why he was inside. When the Private Eye article came out in July we were flabbergasted to say the least and began our campaign. Fifty of his paintings were sent to Adelaide and were in a recent exhibition there. Prior to posting them we photographed them all and have made them into cards to sell, 12 are at present on the website.
If you have ANY INFORMATION WHATSOEVER that could be helpful could you let us know and we can pass it on to Glyn Maddocks, the solicitor who has taken up his case. Anyone who can provide ANY INFORMATION should be encouraged to contact us as soon as possible”.
Julie and Wendy have created the website from which the following bio of Gary is taken.
Finally – don’t wait for someone else to act. If you think this is important get on and do it yourself.
Biography- Gary Critchley “Raised In A Prison”.
“England is a supposed model of democracy and justice, yet ironically I have so far been made to serve longer for being rebellious and non-conformist than the Yorkshire Ripper has for 13 serial Killings. Nowadays, painting is the only thing that keeps me alive.“
Gary Critchley
Born in Birmingham and raised on an estate that bordered on two mental hospitals, visiting and often staying with his elder brother in care homes and approved schools,
Gary was introduced to institutions at a very early age. At 8 years old he got drunk on alcohol and by the age of 12 he was drinking on a regular basis. Aged 14, Gary became a punk rocker, was recruited to the Young Socialist party and excluded from school for leading ‘pupil-power’ marches and picketing the school. Also aged 14 Gary was sent to juvenile detention centre for criminal damage and theft. During his time there he was physically and mentally abused and he describes this as a very negative period of his life.
Upon release he quickly deteriorated, abusing various drugs and becoming involved with crime. In 1980, six months after being released from borstal, he moved to live in London. In June of that year he was discovered severely injured four stories below the flat he was squatting [in Campbell Buildings] and was taken to hospital with a broken back, arm, legs and head injuries. When police investigated the circumstances, they found the body of another man in Gary’s squat. Charged and bailed for this man’s murder, Gary returned to Birmingham where even on crutches he continued his life of punk rock gigs and substance abuse.
In May 1981, he was found guilty of murder (despite numerous forensic discrepancies) and sentenced to be ‘detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure’, the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence. The then Lord Chief Justice recommended that he should serve ‘no more that 8-9 years’. Despite this it was a full 20 years before Gary was first released in July 2000.
Gary was recalled to prison three months later for having sexual relationships with two female peers at his rehab unit and running away with one of them. After another three years in prison for these breaches of his license conditions, he was again released in 2003 to another drink /drug rehab centre. Twelve months later in 2004 he was again recalled to prison for missing a probation appointment. He’s still there.
Over the last five years in prison, Gary has suffered from severe depression and made three serious attempts to take his own life. After the second attempt, Gary was introduced to drawing and painting for the first time in and has since become a prolific painter. He has won a Koestler award for one of his paintings and has been both encouraged and inspired to paint by the staff of a Cambridge University library that have bought and exhibited several of his early works and sponsor him with materials etc.
Despite unanimous recommendations of release and the parole board agreeing that he does not constitute a risk to the public, Gary was recently refused parole on the grounds that if he was ever to relapse into drink /drug use there was a “possibility” that he “could” re-offend violently. This was despite all professional opinion and the masses of evidence to the contrary where Gary has been in active addiction without any such incident.
This ruling is currently the subject of a judicial review, being in breach of not only the Human Rights Act but also several judicial rulings regarding Lifers. There are also investigations still going on into the events surrounding the index offence, of which Gary to this day has no memory.
Gary describes his on-going imprisonment as “warehousing”. He has now actually served more than three times the recommended sentence. He maintains that he never murdered anyone, never intended to hurt anyone and has never before or indeed since the age of 17 been involved in any violence. He says he is now semi-institutionalised and a true product of the system. No longer jailed in relation to the original offence, he has become somewhat of a political prisoner: being punished over and over by a retributive system for his years of rebellion and breaches of petty rules.
Gary on right with green jacket and blond spikes 1979/80 – photo courtesy of Carol Coombes.
Some of Gary’s prison artwork may be viewed HERE
http://www.justiceforgarycritchley.org
Template for contacting MP’s and other officials or media. Please cut and paste the document below onto a word document and print it out to send by post or fax.
Dear …………………..,
I am contacting you regarding Gary Critchley, prisoner no B39969 (A1473AK), convicted of murder in 1981.
The Judge at the time recommended he serve no more than 9/10 years.
This is now his 30th year of incarceration. The conviction is unsafe and according to his solicitor one of the worst miscarriages of justice Britain has ever seen.
Briefly the case is as follows, however please read the Private Eye article
(http://www.b39969.org.uk/pdf/private_eye_24July2009.pdf)
for full details.
Gary allegedly killed a man in 1980. During this murder he sustained frontal lobe damage to his brain, by being hit with a hammer. He also broke his back, ankle and wrist and was found in the street covered in blood.
The victim sustained more than 20 blows with a hammer.
The blood on Gary was found to be from his injuries and there was not one speck of the victim’s blood on him.
The victim was discovered in a room on the upper floor in the building, Gary was found outside on the pavement.
The only evidence to link Gary to the crime was a trainer, two or three sizes too small for him, on his left foot. On his right foot was his own boot which fitted him.
Gary apparently killed the victim, avoiding any blood, changed one shoe, hit himself on the head with the hammer, and then jumped out of the window.
The truth indicates that both Gary and the victim were attacked by a third party, who remains at liberty.
I feel that this really is a grave miscarriage of justice.
Unfortunately, this is not a high profile case, merely the case of an ordinary citizen who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A person who nearly lost his life, but who ended up in prison himself, for something the forensic evidence suggests that he didn’t commit.
I am asking you to look into this, because I know if you do, you will want to take it further.
……………………………………………… Signature.
Julie
March 21, 2010 at 9:24 amHi there Gary, nice to hear from you! great news that you’ve found a computer outlet! Julie.
Wendy
March 23, 2010 at 1:09 pmGary
Great to hear from you outside, I hope this means communication will be easier. I hope you’re settling down okay.
Julie
March 24, 2010 at 12:45 pmAs you will see above we received a message directly from Gary and yesterday both Wendy and myself received letters from him. Gary was moved to a secure hospital for an undetermined time and we hope he will soon be able to contact you all personally. We will keep you posted with fresh news.
Dev
March 27, 2010 at 1:58 pmJulie; thank you for the cards – they are very, very good. I can start to do my (little) bit now.
Carol Coombes
April 2, 2010 at 3:10 pmI knew Gary (we called him Crap) when he was punk. I’ve just read through this and it’s made me cry. How the hell can he still be in there?
I was under the impression he was out a long time ago, and we’d hope, living a happy life.
Thankyou for publicising this.
Have we a campaign group together I could join- can we form one?
I’ve been part of various campaigns, and can contact others who are much better than me- how do I make direct contact with those managing this?
Does anyone have as a ‘standard’ mail that can go to the Home Secretary that we can get post across websites so people just have ti complete and send?
Please let me know what I can do- I’m writing to Crap now
Best
Julie
April 2, 2010 at 6:20 pmDear Carol, really great to hear from you, especially if you have friends with campaigning experience as Wendy and I, who got to know Gary through his art, have none at all and we were just waiting for someone like you to appear!
We are in fact going to visit Gary tomorrow at the place he has been moved to and I will tell him you have been in touch.
I will also post up here tomorrow any messages Gary has to everyone. Finding you all out there, alive and kicking has really made a great difference in his life and perhaps we can all put our heads and ideas together to get this campaign finally on the road?
This is Gary’s new address, he will appreciate hearing from you.
As you can see above your message, I sent Dev some cards I have made which are Gary’s paintings. If you would like me to send you some please send me your address.
Dev, I am glad you liked them, sorry for not having replied earlier.
I am a bit apprehensive about our visit tomorrow but will let you all know the outcome.
Gary’s new address is: Rowan House, Buxton, Norwich, NR10 5RH
Carol, my address is juliecoimbra@gmail.com
Thanks again for your very positive message. Look forward to working with you.
Julie
baron von zubb
April 3, 2010 at 11:58 amgreat to hear from, you gary in person.
julie, keep us posted.
Julie
April 3, 2010 at 9:15 pmHi all of Gary’s friends and those of you wanting to help campaign to clear his name and obtain his freedom.
Wendy and I spent over two hours today with Gary at Rowan House. He is a lovely chap as we had already realized from all of the letters we have received from him and he talked non-stop and very eloquently indeed.
He is alright though very thin, not like some of us out here, and appreciates very much everything you are all doing for him, your thoughts, prayers and deeds.
We are waiting to hear from Carol (recently wrote here above) regarding campaign ideas.
You may write to Gary and even phone him should any of you wish to speak directly with him just @mail me and I’ll pass on his phone number.
We don’t really know what happens next but he is in a better place right now and the time has come for us to act.
We hope to meet up with Glyn, Gary’s solicitor in the near future, probably in London and I’ll let you know as if any of you wish to join us please do so, the more the better.
Gary does not remember Carol so can you remind him from when/where you know him.
We took him loads of stuff, clothes, art books, edibles etc and he’ll let us know of any other things he could do with but he now has a TV and is getting on with painting. We want to take him a CD player and he will be allowed to receive shop bought CD’s.
Please do not give up on Gary, he does not deserve having spent all this time in very difficult places and we must prevent him at all costs being sent back behind bars.
If any of you would like to visit him there is no problem at all, perhaps just the distance. Rowan House is just beyond Norwich but I think it can be done by train and then taxi if you do not have a car.
Looking forward to hearing from you and enjoy the rest of the Easter.
Julie
Jah Pork Pie
April 5, 2010 at 3:08 am@Gary-> Great to know you can talk to us on here fella. Hope all is more positive in the new place. sounds like a much better environment. Keep the faith, there’s a lot of us out here trying to get some justice for you.
@Carol-> If you want a letter to write to the Home Sec, there’s one I’ve done in Word format – get my email address from Penguin and write to me – I’ll send it by return.
@Baron->An article in Vice sounds like a good idea – why not start work on one and we can give it a run past them?
@Julie-> I’m in for any action – direct or otherwise. Let me know.
Carol C
April 5, 2010 at 9:08 amGreat — I’ll mail Julie now.
Carol C
April 5, 2010 at 9:09 amWe’d not seen this response – apologies – and so began making some noise of our own – (details on Crown Punks Birmingham F/book page), including contacting media, MPs, Cracked Actors raised it at a gig, and we put a list of basic things people can do – we’ll get hold of you now to see how we can coordinate what we’re all doing, and thankyou v much for the update re a visit, and all you’ve been doing for him – we wouldn’t even have known where he was but for this and (ex Punk )Tom’s sleuth work.
Most importantly of everything that’s happened, Sharon spoke to him for a good few hours last night – and he was in great form as he would have been by a call from her. Fudge is speaking to him today – I’ll wait til he remembers me, if he does, to do so, (from when we were Punks, tho I was more a skin then in 79) and will continue to write to him anyway so he has additional entertainment in letters from people.
baron von zubb
April 5, 2010 at 9:10 amEh oop jah p. hows it going? bruvaman why dont you write the article while im hassling the editor online? he’s prob sick of me by now, and your writing style is v excellent as we know. then i can present it to him as something done by ‘the campaign ‘ rather than by myself. what d’you think?
Tom D
April 6, 2010 at 3:36 amHello everyone,
I knew Gary back around 1979/1980 from the Crown, as Carol C mentioned yesterday ( April 5th). Just wanted to say hello and add my name to the list here so I get the e-mail updates.
Sharon Maher
April 10, 2010 at 11:47 pmI knew Gary from 1978. Visited him in Wormwood Scrubs, and somewhere else I can’t recall. Like Carol I thought he was now out and living a (hopefully) good life!
Devasted to find out last week he is still in prison. Spoken to him a lot. Please everyone, contact your local MP, and ask them to ask questions in the house regarding the unsafe conviction of Gary. The most awareness we can raise the better!
jock b
April 13, 2010 at 1:01 ami spoke to gary(crap)on saturday by phone.i know him,carol,sharon and tom from the early birmingham punk scene.im in a fairly well known punk band and am sharing a lot of this stuff through our site to try and raise awareness also. ill be following what goes on and hopefully can get involved a little more as it really is a ridiculous situation that has to be resolved as soon as possible!
jock
April 13, 2010 at 9:06 amhow about somone creating a template letter to send to our mps, i’m a bit crap at writing letters to officialdom so having one would be useful for me and maybe others as well.
Tom D
April 13, 2010 at 3:42 pmJock,
Here is a short e-mail to send to MP’s
Reference: Gary Critchley, prisoner no B39969 (A1473AK) , held at Gartree Prison in Leicestershire.
I believe Gary has been a victim of a terrible miscarriage of Justice, and I demand an investigation into his situation
Please respond to let me know how we proceed with this, within 10 days of receipt of this e-mail.
Here is a longer letter version with the pertinent facts;
Dear …………………..,
I am contacting you regarding Gary Critchley, prisoner no B39969 (A1473AK) , held at Gartree Prison in Leicestershire.
Gary was “convicted” of murder in 1980. The Judge at the time recommended he serve no more than 9 years. This is now his 30th year. Furthermore, the conviction is unsafe to say the least, according to Private Eye it is one of the worst miscarriages of justice Britain has ever seen;
Reference: http://www.b39969.org.uk/pdf/private_eye_24July2009.pdf
Please allow me to briefly outline the case, in the hope and expectation that you will look into this further.
Gary allegedly killed a man in 1979. During this murder he sustained frontal lobe damage to his brain, by being hit on the head with a hammer. He also broke his back, ankle, and arm. He was found in the street covered in blood. The victim sustained more than 20 blows with a hammer. The blood found on Gary was found to be from his own injuries only, not one speck of the victims blood was found on Gary. The victim was found in a room on the upper floor in the building, Gary was found outside.
The only “evidence” to link Gary to the crime was a trainer on his left foot. This trainer was two or three sizes too small for him. On his right foot was his own boot which fitted him.
Therefore, Gary apparently killed the victim, avoiding any blood, changed one shoe, hit himself on the head with the hammer, and then jumped out of the window.
The truth indicates that both Gary, and the victim were attacked by a third party, who remains at liberty.
Gary has been released on licence twice and recalled. The first time he allegedly had intimate relations with a peer before absconding from a rehabilitation unit. The second time he failed to keep a probation appointment. I am not condoning this, however in Gary’s case I’m sure you would agree it draws a great deal of empathy given his situation.
I feel that this really is a grave miscarriage of justice. Unfortunately, this is not a high profile case. It appears to be a case of an ordinary citizen who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, a person who nearly lost his life, but who ended up in prison himself, for something the forensic evidence suggests that he didn’t commit.
I am asking you to look into this, because I know if you do, you will want to take it further.
jock
April 13, 2010 at 3:48 pmthanks tom,lets bombared them with this,cheers.
Tom D
April 13, 2010 at 4:36 pmApparently Gary’s case falls within the realms of the Ministry of Justice, their e-mail address is ;
general.queries@justice.gsi.gov.uk
Personally I would still e-mail or write to my local MP and CC the Home Secretary: atjohnsona@parliament.uk
Julie
April 13, 2010 at 4:54 pmDear Jock, Tom and everyone else concerned about Gary’s case and gearing themselves up for the campaign; onslaught of letters to be sent to your MP’s; fund-raising events to be organized; Gary’s art to be put on exhibit etc; music events and many other ideas.
Please wait until Carol, who is now spear-heading the campaign agrees on the wording of the above letter together with Gary’s solicitor.
Gary is no longer in Gartree prison.
You may write to him at Rowan House, a secure hospital where he is currently under assessment, address is in a message above.
Something will be posted here very soon that can be used as a template.
Julie
jock b
April 13, 2010 at 5:08 pmill hang on with the letter writing till a template goes up. best to do this right! carol is well on the case!
Julie
April 13, 2010 at 5:25 pmCheers! we do need to coordinate so that the correct information goes out!
AL Puppy • Post Author •
April 13, 2010 at 6:10 pmThere is also the minor detail of a general election going on.There are no MPs or ministers of justice etc to send letters to. Parliament has been dissolved and will not meet again until 18 May.
Depending on the outcome there could be a new (Tory) regime in charge – if so Chris Grayling will be Home Secretary and Dominic Grieve Justice Minister.
Carol C
April 13, 2010 at 9:37 pmI’ve not long spoken to Gary- he’s in great form and asked me to pass on his thanks to everyone who’s still concerned with him and his situation.
We’re currently trying to pull together all the relevant information and papers, and all the interested parties, and have spoken with Gary’s solicitor.
PLEASE DON’T PUT ANYTHING ON HOLD.
Do all you can, and if you can, let us know, to share your ideas with others. You can’t do anything BUT help if you raise awareness of Gary’s situation.
We’re aiming to get all the publicity out that we can, with the salient facts.
Please visit the ‘Crown Punks Birmingham’ facebook page for now, for added ideas, and add your own:
We’re in parliamentary recess now, so no MPS are back til May- this gives us a few weeks to work out exactly how to do this best.
In the meantime, please spread the word however you can- through your gigs, asking people to visit this site and write/phone mail their MPS, (asking for an Early Day Motion in the house), to raise Gary’s plight there.
A number of bands have suggested putting on fundraising gigs – please do – and please urge people to visit this website to find out more.
Best
C
baronvonzubb
April 14, 2010 at 2:10 pmgreat idea of the template. and fund/awareness raiser. jah p hows it going with the vice thing?
Carol C
April 14, 2010 at 6:04 pmBVZ/JOck- the vice thing?? tell us more if you think we can help?
The template (below) is pretty much as Tom put up, and is the one that’s been used on the punks fbook page (cheers Tom)
In my opinion we’ll do best to keep it short and sweet so there’s absolutely no confusion about what we’re asking for.
Parliaments in recess now, and not back til May.
We should work on getting as many people as possible to all mail their MP’s on one particular day (June 1st), so it can’t be ignored.
New MP’s may be more likely to send a non- standard response.
Template:
Subject title: urgent response required
Reference: Gary Critchley, prisoner no B39969 (A1473AK) , held currently at Rowan House in Norfolk,
I believe Gary has been a victim of a terrible miscarriage of Justice, and as one of your constituents, I request that you demand an investigation into his situation.
Please table an Early Day Motion in the House, and follow this up by number with questions to the Leader of the House when back in session.
Please respond with confirmation within 10 days of receipt of this e-mail.
And then if you’ve not had a proper response (not just confirmation of receipt): send it again
Best
C
Carol C
April 14, 2010 at 6:06 pmTom- as the IT genius, would you be able to cut the pic down to just show Gary?
alistairliv • Post Author •
April 14, 2010 at 6:37 pmFrom google found that Norman Baker, LibDem MP for Lewes asked the Solicitor General [Vera Baird] about Gary Critchley on 12 October 2009.
Is there any background / follow up to this request?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm091012/text/91012w0001.htm
Gary Critchley
Norman Baker: To ask the Solicitor-General what representations she has received concerning the safety of the conviction of Gary Critchley; and if she will make a statement. [292384]
12 Oct 2009 : Column 2W
The Solicitor-General: No representations have been received concerning the safety of the conviction of Gary Critchley.
Carol C
April 14, 2010 at 6:59 pmcheers alistair: No – there was none as no representations had been made. this is what we’re asking for in the mails, and should move it on a bit.
Paula
April 15, 2010 at 6:24 amHi, I’m an old Crown punk and I admit at first I couldn’t put a face to the name Gary Critchley but could vaguely remember the name Crap. Now, however, I have seen the pic posted to the Crown punx facebook page and I do remember him. I, like Tom D am adding this comment to also receive regular updates. I am no longer living in Birmingham but will try sending a letter to my Worcestershire MP. Who knows the more widespread it gets passed around the more coverage we may get!
I will write to Gary although he may not remember me lol! Hopefully it will be some help.
PS this is the first time I have seen this site, following a chat to Sharon on how to find it. So I’m sorry for the delay in supporting.
baronvonzubb
April 15, 2010 at 1:57 pmim waiting from mr vice to reply on wether theyre interested. in the meantime jah porks doing an article that we’ll bombard them with. when thats done mr jah p will mail you carol.
chris low of this site is mates with mr vice and could use that to the campaigns advantage there. but chris has been quiet so far on this (pengween can’t you blackmail him or something???).
i had a wizard wheez involving some family members in the media industry that i thought might lead to, at least being able to present ray winstone or danny boyle with a decent email about gary. but its lead to nothing. anyone else got a way of getting in touch with that type of uk face?
cheers j
jock b
April 15, 2010 at 3:13 pmremember jimmy boyle the scottish guy who was reformed through art classes etc. ended up marrying his art teacher or something. had a lot of publicity. he was friends with the exploited back in the day. anyone able to get in touch with him? cheers!
jock
April 15, 2010 at 8:56 pmjock b-maybe the organisation gerard mentioned at the start of this post might know…..http://www.mojoscotland.com/
funnily enough i read jimmy boyles autubiography a few months ago.