Thirty years ago today Michael OâBrien, Ellis Sherwood and Darren Hall were wrongfully convicted of the brutal murder of Cardiff Newsagent, Phillip Saunders. They ultimately served 11 years and 43 days before their convictions were quashed in 1999. Three decades might have passed but the pain caused by that shocking miscarriage of justice remains undiminished.
At 19 years of age, Michael OâBrien had a steady job, a wife and a child with another on the way. A self-described âpetty criminalâ, he was out one night in a stolen car. âMost of my friends were on the dole, smoking ganja and stealing cars. To fit in, sometimes you have to do things you donât wanna do. That cost me dearly.â
That night, Phillip Saunders was murdered. OâBrien, Sherwood and Hall were brought in as part of the investigation. They would be charged with murder and put on remand. âIt wasnât just dealing with being wrongly accused; but I had to deal with the fact that my wife was heavily pregnant and I wasnât gonna be there at the birth.â
His wife gave birth to a baby girl but things were to take a tragic turn. âJust before trial, my daughter died of cot death. I was just devastated and I was in no fit state to go to trial. My mental health deteriorated really badly. My wife walked out on me.â
Some officers taunted OâBrien: âI was sexually assaulted when I was 17, they were the same officers who investigated that and they were telling me that I would get bent over and shagged in prison. Really horrible stuff.â
âBefore this I trusted the police,â he continued. âI thought that this would be sorted out at trial. I never thought I would get found guilty.â
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The outlook was bleak for his trial too. One of his co-accused, Darren Hall, had confessed to being involved, and implicated the other two. A South Wales police officer, Stuart Lewis, also claimed he overheard a conversation between two of three defendants admitting their parts in the murder.
I asked OâBrien about the moment the foreman of the jury came back with a guilty verdict. âI was absolutely numb. I started to cry and was holding onto the rail. I turned to my father and said: âAs long as you know I didnât do it, thatâs all that mattersâ.â
Experts testified at the Court of Appeal years later that Hallâs confession was unreliable as it was influenced by a combination of a previously undiagnosed personality disorder and police pressure. It would be reported that the police had breached PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act) some 115 times in their questioning of the suspects.
The three men were handcuffed to hot radiators, denied food, water and access to lawyers.
OâBrien always maintained that the cell âconfessionâ was fabricated by detective inspector Lewis. The Court of Appeal held that, in light of questionable note-taking in a previous case and the misconduct during interviews, his account was suspicious and was liable for a second cross-examination.
And two witnesses claimed they lied in giving evidence against the three defendants as a direct result of police pressure.
OâBrien was suffering from the trauma years before that evidence was put back to court. âI used to feel suicidal. I still do now, even though Iâm a free man. But what I didnât know at the time was I was suffering from PTSD.â He often believed it was all a nightmare. âWhen I realised it wasnât, it really freaked me out. I jumped off the bed, I was so irate. I was so tense. It was such an awful feeling in my stomach, knowing that I was doing a life sentence for somebody elseâs crime. What can be worse than that?â
OâBrien felt he was being punished for maintaining his innocence. He challenged attempts by prison authorities to ban him speaking to journalists. As a result of the interest of a BBC programme (the case featured in Week In, Week Out) the miscarriage of justice watchdog, the Criminal Cases Review Commission reinvestigated the menâs case. âIf I hadnât have taken them to court, the BBC programme wouldnât have been made and we wouldnât have had our names cleared,â OâBrien recalled. âThey told me at one stage that if I continued protesting my innocence then I would die in prison. I said: âSo be it.â I was either leaving there in a box or as an innocent man.â
Bail was granted for the âCardiff Newsagent Threeâ when the evidence they found was put to Court. Â âI was on top of the world. For the first time in 11 and a half years I was to spend Christmas with my family and kid. I can remember it as clear as day. I stayed up with my son all night. He was 13 at the time and came and gave me a cwtch (hug) on my bed and we fell asleep together.â