Carl Bridgewater Case

EDM number 1390 in 1992-93, proposed by Chris Mullin on 15/02/1993.

That this House regrets the decision of the Home Secretary not to refer the Carl Bridgewater case back to the Court of Appeal; notes that the convictions rest mainly on an uncorroborated confession extracted by West Midlands police officers after 55 hours of questioning without access to a solicitor; recalls that one of the interviewing officers, DC John Perkins, was subsequently disciplined for fabricating a confession in another case; notes that another prosecution witness was described by the Appeal Court in 1988 as 'a pathological liar'; further notes that the most likely suspect for the murder of Carl Bridgewater is presently serving a life sentence for a similar crime; and believes that the failure to resolve this case will continue to undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.

This motion has been signed by a total of 107 MPs.