Tuesday 6 September was an important day for the campaigners from JENGbA (Joint Enterprise – Not Guilty by Association). It was the first hearing of our private members’ Bill in the House of Commons. A Bill which aims to tackle the appalling injustice within the appeal system in England and Wales for those convicted under ‘joint enterprise’ law. Campaigners and supporters travelled from far and wide to hear it live in the public gallery at the House of Commons. JAN CUNLIFFE from JENGbA1 writes.
As campaigners we have always been peaceful. Even through the pain of injustice we have never shown anger or disrespect. We have always been mindful that there is a victim and their family in every case we support. Joint Enterprise has torn our lives apart and we believe an unworkable appeal system tears their lives apart too. No one wants the innocent convicted to a life sentence for a murder the trial process proves they did not inflict. It has always been love that has kept each of us going.
As we passed through security, some of us were greeted by security staff who recalled seeing us the day before at a meeting we held across the road at Portcullis House. A positive meeting full of hope.
As the clock ticked closer to the 10-minute slot allocated to Barry Sheerman MP’s reading of the Bill, the security team entered the public gallery picking off individuals asking them to leave. Eventually my turn came. I asked why? I didn’t refuse but I made my way back upstairs to the corridor, thinking I would receive an explanation there. I did this with great difficulty as I was on crutches due to an accident days earlier.
Going to London was a hard decision. I knew I’d be in pain but to be in the House of Commons listening live felt like physically being part of history in the making. Just as it had been in 2016 in the Supreme Court. The day our most senior judges acknowledged the law took a ‘wrong turn’ in 1984. Back then the ruling in the case of Jogee2 validated all we had said about the common law of Joint Enterprise. A bittersweet victory because gaining appeals as we had expected back then proved impossible due to the unreachable ‘substantial injustice’ test. A test to date that has only been attained by two people. 32 years of injustice followed by a landmark judgement that inserted a ‘test’ that would deliver further injustice. Yet we did not give up.
However, what should have been a joyful experience turned quickly into humiliation. We were escorted out of the public gallery and back down to the Great Hall. Not only House of Commons security but to our disbelief the police swarmed as if we were criminals. I was in shock and asked if I could have a drink of water before leaving. I was told quite aggressively by a police officer no and that I must leave immediately. I asked if I was going to be arrested. I asked if there was someone in my company that had done something wrong and if I was being made accountable for whatever it was they had or may have done? Was this a joint enterprise?
It became even scarier as dogs appeared and the police formed a line across the Grand Hall. It felt like we were being kettled. As if we were trouble to be dealt with. To be removed because we were not entitled to be there. Not entitled to hear the first step in the Bill written by young lawyer and JENGbA campaigner Charlotte Henry, which the prisoners we support have spent years waiting for. Our right to be in the House of Commons, as members of the public, was being denied and no one could tell us why.
However, they could tell us that we must ALL leave the building. The irony: we enter this public building to hear a joint enterprise criminal-appeal 10 minute presentation, and are hurled out as a joint enterprise. Joint enterprise what? Security risk? No one can tell me! There was mention of someone having had glue and a homemade banner removed from their person as they entered the first door of the building. The words ‘Extinction Rebellion’ could be heard from security staff.
With the help of one of JENGbA’s lawyers, instead of being escorted from the building we were eventually led into the Jubilee Room to watch the reading on a television screen. As expected, it passed this first stage and was backed by 12 cross-party MPs. The Bill will no doubt face challenges along the way, but if this debacle is anything to go by it may be even harder than we expected. We know from past experiences how injustice, once it takes hold, is like a cancer, ravaging every good opportunity and turning light into darkness with no logical explanation.
In true JENGbA spirit we left the Jubilee Room and waited outside for Barry Sheerman so we could thank him for his support and for being brave enough to tackle an issue very few care about. Unless of course it happens to them. He took us onto the terrace at the House of Commons, peacefully passing security staff and we sat in the sunshine overlooking the River Thames, quietly smiling in celebration. Campaigning isn’t easy but when I think about all those men, women and children convicted using the wrong interpretation of the law, sitting in their prison cells year after year, I feel very fortunate.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 290, October/November 2022
1. See their website www.jointenterprise.co
2. For background on the case of Jogee see FRFI 250 April/May 2016
