This is not simply a story about a horrifying miscarriage of justice. It is also a story about one of the most corrupt officers in British history and the police establishment that allowed him to thrive in his criminality and then protected him. It is about a justice system so indifferent to the fates of the men wrongfully convicted that it did nothing to clear their names for almost 47 years.
His notoriety was such that both a 1973 BBC Nationwide documentary and a Sunday Times article referred to a calypso song heard in the pubs around Brixton: “If the muggers don’t get you, Ridgewell will.” But despite the newspapers, the documentary and even a judge showing that Ridgewell was a racist with no qualms about framing innocents, the BTP did nothing. He was neither sacked nor disciplined. He was merely moved into another job.
Wild. All these people had their lives ruined because of those officers. Had to live the rest of their lives in fear and burdened by a false conviction. I can’t imagine going through that.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“Word went out about what had happened to my father and all of a sudden people started to step back because they thought Dad was a criminal.” The Turkish Cypriot community was conservative and respectful of authority, Regu says.
Five years earlier, in 2013, Simmons had called a legal phone-in on LBC radio to ask for advice about his case and was told to try Googling his arresting officer.
Lambeth Community Relations Council lodged a complaint and the BTP promised an inquiry, but later said: “No evidence was forthcoming from any witness to support any allegation against any person.”
In July 2021, after three members of the Stockwell Six had their convictions quashed, the deputy chief constable of the BTP, Adrian Hanstock, made a statement confirming that the force had examined all records where Ridgewell was the principal investigating officer and “have not identified any additional matters that we feel should be referred for external review”.
Henry Blaxland KC, representing Mehmet and Peterkin, tells the court a “systemic failure” by the BTP to investigate prosecutions linked to Ridgewell led to “lamentable delays” in clearing their names.
The response, attributed to the BTP’s chief constable, Lucy D’Orsi, reads: “My colleagues and I are profoundly sorry to all those affected by DS Ridgewell’s atrocious actions and the trauma that victims and their families suffered as a result.
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