An East End bishop has been asked to join a government investigation into possible miscarriages of justice, thanks to a series of Newsquest stories.
Bishop of Stepney Joanne Grenfell, whose diocese covers Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets, will sit on a panel investigating convictions under joint enterprise laws.
She was selected to join the commission after the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice (APPG) read our stories about her support for life prisoner Jason Moore.
Jason, from Canary Wharf, was jailed in 2013 for the Gants Hill murder of Robert Darby, after a single eyewitness picked him from a line-up seven years after the crime.
Tracked down by Newsquest, the witness admitted he was drunk when he witnessed Robert’s stabbing and was not sure he had identified the right person.
Our evidence is under review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and Robert’s brother Tim, from Havering, now helps run the campaign to quash Jason’s conviction.
Bishop Joanne joined the campaign after being jointly approached by both families.
She has now been invited to sit in 18 months of evidence-gathering sessions over whether people have been unfairly convicted under joint enterprise laws.
People can be convicted just for being at the scene of a violent crime, if prosecutors can convince a jury that they might have reasonably foreseen the crime occurring.
Bishop Joanne said joint enterprise was “clearly problematic in terms of issues of wrongful conviction".
“I’m also aware that it has a disproportionately racially discriminatory aspect to it, because many more black young men are convicted under this than white – and that bothers me as a matter of racial injustice,” she said.
“The broader concern is about how potential miscarriages of justice are reviewed, which is something I’ve learned about through Jason’s case and which undermines the justice system and public trust.”
Journalist and lecturer Dr Jon Robins, an advisor to the APPG, told Newsquest that Bishop Joanne had come to the group’s attention “directly through your reporting on the Jason Moore case".
“I think quite a lot of the debate around miscarriages of justice is really insular,” said Dr Robins, whose book Guilty Until Proven Innocent raised concerns about joint enterprise in 2019.
“Involving people who are not the usual suspects is important. One of the reasons the Hillsborough Inquiry was so effective was because it had the Bishop of Liverpool chairing it.
“Having people who can see cases from a moral point of view is really important. There’s a forceful moral argument to be had about joint enterprise. We’re looking for people who can be powerful advocates.”
“Every bishop is connected to, belongs to and loves and serves a local area,” said Bishop Joanne.
“Part of that involves speaking up on issues that matter to local people and that they bring up with you.
“There’s also a role for bishops to speak about what we hold dear in our common public life – and matters of the criminal justice system are deeply important to all of us.
“We rely on it to make sure criminals are caught and we are kept safe. But we also have to trust that it can look at its own work and ensure it is fair – and where it’s not, there needs to be opportunities for review and potential for re-examination.”
The investigation was launched last month by Liverpool MP Kim Johnson, who has frequently raised concerns about joint enterprise.
“Joint enterprise is used as a dragnet to sweep huge numbers of predominantly young, black men and children into the criminal justice system – many for crimes where they had no direct involvement or intent, and sometimes even no knowledge of,” she said.
“The current law’s ruthless indifference is horrifying; lives wrecked for association, or for ‘foreseeing’ a crime they played no part in.
“The launch of the Westminster Commission on Joint Enterprise marks a critical step in confronting the profound injustices that joint enterprise law continues to inflict on individuals, families and entire communities.”
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