Over the last 4 years one things has become all too obvious. Greater Manchester Police and the Greater Manchester Police Authority will do anything to prevent Kristian's conviction being overturned.

Confidence in your legal team

What do you do when someone makes false allegations against you or a member of your family; this sort of thing doesn’t happen to people like us/you it’s the kind of thing you hear about on the news and in the papers. You may be moved into feeling sorry for the victims once you have watched one of those miscarriage of justice programmes that seem to be coming more and more frequent recently. However sometimes life deals you some hefty blows and once you get over the initial shock and anger of what has happened, you quickly realise that if you are to be of any use to the person being accused of something they did not do, you need become very focused and determined very quickly.

When something like this happens, you clearly need to seek out legal help and assistance. In KJ’s case he was provided with legal assistance by the Police Federation, but he had no say in who was to represent him or the choice of solicitors provided for him. He also has no way of knowing how good that representation is, because unlike many other professional sectors, Lawyers are not league tabled or have any sort of performance related indicators with which to measure them against. Early on in Kristian’s case he naively believed that because he was innocent then justice would prevail. He has since been disavowed of any such notion and has learnt the hard way that the truth played no part in his conviction. So basically you take a big chance and place your trust in the competence of the legals.

Sadly, and all too often we are misled into believing that solicitors, barristers and anyone who has any connection with the legal side of your fight will place as much importance as you do on proving your innocence. The reality is that you have now become part of a process which is guided by targets and legal niceties. Despite any concerns you may have about your legal team at this point, you succumb to promises that the best is yet to come. For us, that promise never materialised and Kristian ended up with a conviction he should never have had given the prosecutions own evidence.

The biggest mistake we made was not to become more involved with what was happening from a legal standpoint. Hindsight is a wonderful thing whose only purpose is to keep you awake at night going over things you wished you had done better. We truly believe that Kristian has been shell shocked by this whole dreadful experience; he/we placed far too much trust in the solicitor and barristers abilities to prove him innocent. Why wouldn’t we, that’s what we are led to believe they do, just like on the telly, they actually use their own initiative and think outside the box in an effort to build a defence. Sadly it seems that much of the legal process is just that, a process with lots of evidence getting “agreed” often without your knowledge.

You only realise what’s happened when you get to trial, by which time it’s too late. With the person being accused becoming merely a postage stamp on the bigger envelope. So here are a few pointers that might help you in your fight for justice.

• Use your instinct; if you have concerns about your legal team’s ability to fight your case, then you are probably right. Common complaints such as they don’t follow things up, they don’t carry out your wishes, they don’t answer your letters, phone calls or emails, then take decisive action before it’s too late. To do otherwise you could find yourself with a conviction for something you didn’t do as we did. Never be afraid to stick your neck out and if necessary as many times as necessary until you get a decent legal team.

• Make sure that you question things and if you don’t understand ask for explanations in PLAIN ENGLISH and not legal speak. There is no question that can’t be asked if it it’s important to you. Remember, you are paying the legal bill one way or another privately or as a tax payer.

• Check out the internet as there are loads of websites that highlight solicitors and barristers that give poor service. Some are quite “Honest” in their reviews. It’s worth a quick check to see if your legal team is listed or not. We wish we had seen this before as ours was listed twice, albeit the London office of the same firm.

• You should be determined to win at all times, whatever blocks are placed in front of you, just take a deep breath and head down and keep going. Use the phrase “Stop telling me what you can’t do and start showing me what you can do”. Don’t be put off by the constant rebuttals and bland replies that are designed to make you go away and stop complaining. Put your best Victor Meldrew hat on.

• Only afford lawyers your respect and confidence when they have demonstrated to you that they are worth it. Try not to be intimidated by the air of importance so many solicitors and barristers float in on. Nothing or nobody is as important as your liberty and you’re innocent being proven.

• Where necessary, complain to the relevant bodies such as the CPS,(Crown Prosecution Service) your relevant Police force headquarters)in our case it is Greater Manchester Police, the solicitors and then to their governing body the Law society or The Bar Council, which is for complaints against your barrister. The probation service, if you are unhappy with any aspect of the treatment you have received and always challenge unprofessional behaviour, assumptions being made about you, reports that do not reflect what transpired in your meeting with them. In our case KJs first meeting was farcical, the probation officer didn’t even have the correct or relevant file, he had the file which related to the allegation KJ was found Not Guilty on. Despite complaining they just attempted to circle the wagons and make excuses which dripped of management speak and managed solutions. I think you know where I am coming from. Pressure will be applied if you have been convicted to “accept” your conviction, because after all you must have done it if the jury found you guilty. They may well be able to take away your freedom for a short while but resists all attempts to steal your credibility too. It’s difficult if you know you are innocent to show any remorse for something you haven’t done, that bit isn’t allowed in the Probation Service handbook. Like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses that keep trying to convert you to their path.

• Make sure that you keep all copies of letters sent, postage receipts (recorded delivery at the post office) any emails sent always request receive and read receipts when you send your emails.

• Remember that even if you are being funded by the Legal Aid system, you are still entitled to good service and a good defence. Few people realise that YOU instruct the solicitor or barrister not the other way around. When it goes wrong they will be quick to tell you that you didn’t instruct them to do something.

Spreading the Word

Use Social Networking such as Facebook, YouTube and the many others that are out there. One way to spread the word and to seek help is to use the many social networking sites to get people talking about your case. We have utilised this method of communication and a discussion group has been set up on Facebook for Kristian called Justice4KJ group and at the time of writing over 200 people had signed up to it in a very short space of time. What does this do, it puts your plight out there, it gets people interested in what’s happened and what is happening, it creates an arena where people can support offer support for the wrongly accused person and also for those left behind. Perhaps most importantly it means that your friends can tell their friends who tell their friends and so on.

Build a website

The purpose of a website is to put your story out there and make sure that people are kept informed of what is happening. It is also the only place to ensure that true and accurate facts about the case are printed, so that people can read the truth about your situation not something made up on the way through the wardrobe into Narnia. A website also provides a platform from which you can refute some of the more “sleazy” headlines used by the press and to which we mere mortals seem powerless to stop. Our experience has been that despite being in court, most of the journalist placed their own spin on that which happened in the court room, facts, the news items produced in KJ’s case story bore little or no resemblance to the facts. Clearly Headlines such as “Pervert Cop” sell more papers apparently than “Cop wrongly accused by serial lair and miscreant”.

What is most infuriating according to other wrongly accused people is that these same newspapers are nowhere to be seen or have no interest in your victory in the Appeal court when your name is cleared. So a website is a good way of keeping people up to date and allowing people to participate in a factual account of your plight. Look upon newspapers as good for lighting fires with and wrapping up fish and chips.

Supporting Websites

Look for websites and forums relevant to your “allegation”. In the case of Kristian was accused of a sexual allegation and therefore we looked at many websites with forums which support people wrongly accused of sexual crimes. There are many sites that refer to those wrongly accused of other crimes and who offer support and advice on who to fight for justice. Some of the stories and miscarriages of justice that I came across when researching the web are just breathtaking in their injustice and its only when you are victims of such injustice yourself, do you realise how badly wrong the British Legal System can go wrong.

Remember, nil desperandum carbororundum, an old Army saying which stands for “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”.