#7 The CCRC, David Morris and the Clydach murders: Fine words butter no parsnips

By now, the CCRC will have received, and no doubt read, our response to their refusal to entertain our application, asking them to review the conviction of David George Morris, and thereafter refer it to the Court of Appeal. 

They, or rather, the Commissioner who penned the refusal, provided three grounds justifying their decision:

1. We did not have the family’s permission to make the application;

2. The court does not have time to hear the application; and,

3. That it was not in the public interest for them to consider this application

And this was all really rather strange because – as Dr Michael Naughton rightly pointed out – if we did not have the family’s permission to present this case, there was no need to go any further than that, and provide us with two additional grounds of refusal.

It felt very much like we were being fobbed off, and the CCRC didn’t really want to even consider our application, no matter its merits. We believe that we were given standard answers that so many other applicants would also have been given, so that it was a one-size-fits-all rejection letter. It also explains why 98% of applications lodged with the CCRC are routinely, and disappointingly, rejected.

If the Commissioner appointed to consider the application had even looked at it properly (obviously, she hadn’t) she would have very quickly discovered that we did, indeed, have permission from the family of David Morris. Morris’ daughter, Janiene O’Sullivan, had given me her express written permission. We told the CCRC this in our application, so it was there in black and white. So clearly, our application had not been looked at, just point blank refused. It was a serious dereliction of duty and someone, somewhere hadn’t done their job properly; the job they were paid out of public funds to do.

Or, was it for entirely different reasons that the CCRC had no wish to entertain our application. We had, after all, both in our book Force of Evil: Crossing the thin blue line to murder, and in our application named names of individuals who we knew – and could prove – were involved in one of the biggest criminal conspiracies Britain has ever seen, if not the biggest. Might this explain a natural reluctance to examine a case which might have unwanted consequences. But why? The mission of the CCRC is clearly stated on their website. It is to expose, not conceal:

“The Criminal Cases Review Commission looks into criminal cases where people believe they have been wrongly convicted or wrongly sentenced."

“These cases are for those who have already lost their appeal. If we do find something wrong with a conviction or sentence, we can send the case back to the Court of Appeal."

“To launch a fresh appeal, we need something important like strong new evidence or an argument that makes the case look different now.”

These are fine words but they butter no parsnips.

It is one thing to say something, but quite another to do something. My limited experience of the CCRC is that it is an organisation that says much but does little, but even then, what it does say is nonsensical and gives the impression of being just a paper pushing exercise which produces few positive results. 

For their second, and as already explained, quite unnecessary ground of refusal, the Commissioner arrogantly explained that the court did not have time to hear the application, and she cited previous legal cases, case law, which, she must have felt, justified her refusal.

I have no doubt that these were the same old well-worn cases she’d dredged up a hundred times before to justify refusing numerous other applicators. But they didn’t wash with us. This was a belt and braces type of job. If the first ground of refusal didn’t work to lock us out, then this second ground might work.   

It didn’t.

Why the Commissioner hadn’t bothered to search out cases that exactly supported her refusal I simply do not know. Maybe because there aren’t any. That old chestnut, Mary Westlake v R involved the Reginald Christie murders of the 1950s, immortalised in the well-known film, and book by journalist Ludovic Kennedy, Ten (or 10) Rillington Place. Interesting, but irrelevant. Likewise R v Hanratty was another famous case from the 60s, but that wasn’t relevant either In fact none of the cases the Commissioner relied upon actually supported her case, so her second ground of refusal was nothing of the sort.

As for the Commissioner’s third and final ground of refusal:

“The CCRC (meaning the Commissioner who dealt with the application) has decided that it would not be in the public interest to refer this case to the Court of Appeal, and so it has decided to exercise its discretion not to refer the case.”

In making this deplorable statement, the Commissioner – for that’s whose decision it was – rode roughshod over the welfare, health, safety and rights of all those people in the community over which South Wales Police are solely responsible, and who have been violated, oppressed and ignored in a systemic pattern of abuse extending back over five decades.

The people of South Wales, who have followed developments in the Clydach murders case, are angry, sick and tired of being lied to and mislead. They are rightfully distrustful of South Wales Police, and demand accountability.

Now is the time for the CCRC to set aside spurious, meaningless arguments, to stop looking over their shoulder, grow a pair of balls, and do the job they were paid for; the job the public, and we, expect.

If you agree with the above, or even if you don’t, please add your comments below and also send them to the CCRC at the following email address with 'David Morris and the Clydach murders' in the subject line: info@ccrc.gov.uk

By John Morris and Paul Dalling

John Morris qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1987 and worked in two leading Swansea criminal law practices before taking over an existing general practice which he ran for 10 years. In 2000, he moved to Ireland where he worked in a Dublin general practice. He took early retirement in 2015 to research and write "The Clydach Murders: A Miscarriage of Justice". He continues his research into the case, He has published several other books, and he also writes for a national magazine.

Paul Dalling has a background in construction and engineering, but he has spent the last twenty six years painstakingly investigating the Clydach murders. Paul and John are the co-authors of "Force of Evil: Crossing the thin blue line to murder" which exposes the corruption and conspiracy behind the Clydach murders, and the proven imprisonment of David George Morris, an innocent man.

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