18/04/07 - Murder appeal lawyer petitions European court
Times Online and PA

A solicitor who has spent 11 years trying to clear two men convicted of triple murder lodged a petition at Europe’s highest court today claiming they were denied a fair trial.

Michael Steele and Jack Whomes were jailed for life in 1998 for the killings of three drug dealers who were found shot dead in a car in Essex in December 1995.

Steele’s solicitor, Chris Bowen, claims he has evidence that he hopes will force a new appeal. He presented his petition at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg earlier today.

Mr Bowen said: “There is evidence about the credibility of a supergrass witness which, if we had known about it at the time, could have changed everything.

“It involves Essex Police and I am now trying to bring this evidence forward.”

The Court of Appeal threw out an appeal 14 months ago, despite defence claims that the lack of forensic evidence and eyewitnesses to the killings made the convictions unsafe.

The chief prosecution witness had been Darren Nicholls, who agreed to give evidence after being arrested in connection with a drugs haul.

Mr Bowen now claims information about Mr Nicholls which might have affected the trial’s outcome was withheld from the jury.

“I have devoted 11 years of my life to trying to free these men and I hope now that I will be successful,” said Mr Bowen.

At the Old Bailey trial, prosecutors argued that Steele and Whomes arranged to kill Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate after a dispute over a drugs deal - claims always denied by the convicted men.