IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Wanneer: 02/05/2012 - 16:29

On 28th August 2007 at around 9.30pm Keith Cowell, Matthew Cowell and Tony Delieu were shot dead at the Cowells’ home in Bishop’s Stortford. Two women Christine Jennings and Claire Evans, who were present at the house were stabbed and injured.Claire Evans sustaining superficial wounds.

A description given at the time of the incident was of a black, paki, Asian shorter than 5 foot six with a balding shaved head, clean shaven, wearing a long sleeve white shirt with a collar and unhealthily skinny. Kev has olive skin, is almost 6 foot tall and at that time was around 12 stone and wore his hair in a French crop. He always wore a distinctive diamond earing (as can be seen on ear on photo skin) but was told to remove this by police prior to taking part in the viper I.D. parade.Not one witness mentioned seeing anyone with an ear piercing.

Ian Jennings, son of Christine Jennings went on the run from Police and later told them he was £300,000 in debt to the Dulieu family for cocaine. Police confiscated a car belonging to Ian Jennings and a large sum of money found under his bed. Police allowed Ian Jennings to plead guilty to 2 charges of conspiracy to supply one kilo of cocaine and half a kilo of cocaine with no evidence in order to create motive to be used to convict Kev. He received a 7 year sentence. No drugs were ever found. It has been rumoured that Jennings made a deal with Police in order to have his car and money returned to him as well as witness protection for life with the rest of his family all receiving regular payments.

Kev was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 2nd September 2007 as he was about to board a flight to Northern Cyprus. He had heard his brother Miran was in some trouble and feared for his life. He wanted to find out more and help if he could. His arrest came just 6 days after the incident and police claimed he had been evading justice when in fact he had just been living his life as normal until he received a phone call from his scared brother, Miran, who stated that he had been threatened at gun point and it was not safe for him to return home. There was evidence of him using his credit card as normal during this time as well as cell siting showing him at home.

He was taken to the Police Station and accused of three counts of murder, two of attempted murder and one firearms offence. After being charged Kev states that police officers told him when he was taken out for exercise, “we know you didn’t do it but if you don’t help us we will make sure you serve 50 years”.

While being held at the Police Station Kevan was taken for I.D parades even though witnesses had already positively identified two other suspects and he did not fit the description of the suspects the police were looking for.

Ian Jennings, whose questionable evidence provided background and motive for the case picked numbers 5 and 6 from the line-up. He claimed Number 6 was the gunman. Number 5 being a volunteer and number 6, Kev. After the parade there was a conversation between Jennings, his solicitor and an officer. In evidence Jennings could not remember the conversation but thought that both suspects were on the same parade. Ian Jennings claimed that he had never met Kev when in fact there was satellite navigation history and cell cite analysis to show that he had been at Jennings address on 26th August 2007 with Miran, Ian and Christine Jennings. When questioned during the trial Ian Jennings said of the I.D parade “my head was up my arse. I just picked any two numbers.” Jennings veiwed a second I.D. parade and identified another as the gunman which meant that Kev could not be responsible. However, due to crown prosecution failures and a corrupt defence solicitor this information was not obtained in time to be used.

Under the Turnbull guidelines, identification evidence may be so poor and unsupported by other evidence that the trial Judge should withdraw the case from the jury. This “protects a jury from acting upon the type of evidence which even if believed, experience has shown to be a possible source of injustice.

It has long been recognised that uncorroborated identification evidence is inherently unreliable. A notorious example was media interviews given by eye witnesses immediately after the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell station in July 2005. Although witnesses gave what they sincerely believed were honest and factually accurate accounts, CCTV footage showed that their recollections were wrong in almost every detail

Christine Jennings viewed four I.D. parades. On the first, she said she was “positive” of her choice of number 5 which was a volunteer. On the second she was again “positive” and picked another man who had been arrested before Kev and was being questioned over the murders as No.2. On the third parade she said she couldn’t be sure and on the fourth she picked Kev as being the other man. During trial when she was told the first positive I.D was a volunteer and the second was not charged with this offence she said she could not be sure that the I.D of Kev was correct.

Claire Evans viewed an I.D parade in which Kev was present and claimed that no-one in the parade was present at the house at the time of the incident. She had given a statement describing the man who first entered her bedroom as “shorter than 5′ 6″, “smaller than Mike”. Kev stands taller than Miran at 5’10”.

Claire Evans and Nicole Cowell both gave statements to the fact that on the night in question they had seen Miran on his own and he had no weapon. Miran had come to the house alone and was there prior to Ian Jennings, Christine Jennings and Tony Delieu arriving.

During trial preparation it became apparant that confidential information was making it’s way from the defence to prosecution and to the Police. The Judge wrote to the then Governor of HMP Woodhill where all the defendants were remanded to ask how this was happening and what levels of surveillance were being used. LUKE SERGENT, the Governor, wrote back stating that he “could neither confirm nor deny whether covert surveillance was or ever had been used in this case.” This illegal intrusion clearly disadvantaged all defendants.

In March 2008 Kev attempted to have the case against him dismissed due to the fact that there was no case to answer to. Stuart Trimmer QC told a scandalous amount of lies which the Judge used to make his decision to have Kev face trial. After the prosecution case during the trial, the Judge should have discharged Kev, as the only “evidence” was the I.D. which was proven to be innacurate. Again the Judge was not willing to do this and wanted the Jury to decide on guilt based on no real evidence.