For two decades, John Kamara boiled from behind bars against a system that had unjustly shut him down for a brutal murder he did not commit.
John had been jailed for life along with co-defendant Ray Gilbert for the savage 1981 murder of betting shop manager John Suffield, 23, who was stabbed 19 times in a misdemeanor robbery. Gilbert served 36 years in prison before being released on leave, but also maintains his innocence.
Unbeknownst to John, during all those lost years, a witness’s statement was picking up dust in a warehouse that undermined the key evidence that helped put him in jail. The abortion has been explored in a Crime and Investigation Network documentary called British Injustice, presented by investigative journalist Raphael Rowe, who himself served 10 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before winning a appeal.
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Mr. Suffield was killed shortly after 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 13, after opening Joe Coral’s bookmakers in Lodge Lane, Toxteth. His hands had been tied and he was beaten by his assailants, who came out with less than £ 200 in cash.
At the time, police believed Mr Suffield had unintentionally angered his attackers because his babbling meant he could not respond to his demands for a code for a locked indoor safe. A few days later, Merseyside police arrested the two men and subjected them to an intense and lengthy interrogation without the presence of lawyers.
After about 48 hours, detectives obtained what appeared to be a confession from Mr. Gilbert, who tragically for John and his family falsely named him as his accomplice. Gilbert later recanted his confession and says he was psychologically vulnerable at the time.
In the documentary, Mr. Rowe, who met John in prison while serving his sentence, takes him back to the Admiral Street police station to ask him about the interrogation process. John says: “Racism had a lot to do with it. Don’t forget, this was a moment, we had the Toxteth riots. I just feel like the police, in those days, were out to get a speedy conviction.”
In a new Crime + Investigation documentary series, investigative journalist Raphael Rowe explores John Kamara’s unjust conviction for the 1981 assassination of Toxteth betting store manager John Suffield (Image: Crime + Investigation)
John says he was ready to answer questions and did not deal with detectives. He said, “I told them it wasn’t me, telling them where I was. Then, in my interviews, they told me that Gilbert had confessed and said you were with him. They threw out the statement.
“I looked at him, read a little, threw him away and then got a little angry. I’d say I’m tired, I can sleep. They put me in a cell, I slept for two hours, then the new agents Open the door and say “interview.” And it was uninterrupted for three days.
“I mean, the only time I saw a lawyer was when they accused me. It was a bad experience to be in there and think they could take you away for something you didn’t do.”
However, along with Mr. Gilbert’s confession, Merseyside police found a witness named in court documents such as Ms. Edmunds, whose evidence was vital in securing John’s conviction. He claimed to have seen two mixed-race men fighting a white man, Mr Suffield, outside the bookstore around 9.30am.
John Suffield was killed in a raid on a betting shop in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1981.
Edmunds later chose John Kamara from an identity parade, which was the only direct evidence of the case, apart from Ray Gilbert’s retracted confession. What the jury at his trial never heard, however, was the evidence of a Florence McCoy, who also saw Mr Suffield that morning.
His version of events was completely different. According to Mrs McCoy, she saw Suffield open its shop at around 9.35am and even said “hello” to her when she entered her shop, not to mention any assailant, which means the attack should have come later and directly contradicts Mrs. Edmunds.
This vital statement was never revealed and did not see the light of day until 1999, when the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) began reviewing John’s case. CCRC investigators made a shocking discovery: 201 statements from undisclosed witnesses sitting in a storage room that defense attorneys for both John Kamara and Ray Gilbert did not know existed.
As ECHO reported the murder of betting shop manager John Suffield on Friday 13 March 1981 (Image: Liverpool ECHO)
The case was referred to the Court of Appeal and formed the core of John’s efforts to overturn his conviction, but other issues were also noted. In 1981 the court was told that police had recycled five of the 11 volunteers used in two subsequent identity parades for witnesses, one containing Ray Gilbert and the other John Kamara, who were in breach of procedural guidelines.
In 2001, almost 20 years later, the sentence was officially declared unsafe and John was released. However, he told Mr. Rowe, his release was the beginning of another battle. He said, “That’s when I really panicked. Where do I live? Where am I going? I think I was afraid to leave.”
John finally managed to rebuild his life, in part thanks to the support and friendship of another man who had been wrongfully convicted, Paddy Hill, one of the “Birmingham Six” who were wrongfully convicted of a bomb attack. ‘IRA that killed 21 people in 1974..
But the effects of his ordeal remain.
Rowe asked if John had been able to move on and live his life since his release. He said, “No, I personally didn’t stop to tell you the truth. It just went on. Even though I left, now it’s gone.”
British injustice is available to reproduce in Crime and Investigation.
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