Government faces false jailing claim

Tuesday 30 October 2012

A TAXI driver who won a nine-year battle to clear his name after being wrongly convicted and jailed for racially aggravated harassment is now launching a compensation case against the Scottish Government.

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COLIN GRANT

Colin McIntyre, 47, from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, has instructed his lawyer to seek damages for his wrongful imprisonment and lengthy fight to clear his name which he says has ruined his life. His relationship broke down and he lost his livelihood following his conviction in 2001.

Mr McIntyre's ordeal began on Sunday, March 4, 2001, in the Mollinsburn Inn, Cumbernauld Road, Mollinsburn, when he verbally abused local councillor Balwant Singh Chadha. The following day Mr McIntyre returned to the pub and apologised to staff but police had begun an investigation and were on the premises. He gave them a voluntary statement.On March 6, he apologised in writing to Mr Chadha, who wrote back, accepting the apology. The pair met and shook hands.Mr McIntyre was duly charged with acting in a racially aggravated manner and pled guilty by letter on June 5, 2001. However, unknown to Mr McIntyre, Mr Chadha – who was born in India – had been the victim of racially abusive messages left on his telephone answering machine.Mr Chadha told police he recognised Mr McIntyre's voice on his answering machine and on June 9 the taxi driver was detained and questioned about the calls. He denied any involvement. The interview was recorded and passed to an expert for analysis. After a lengthy investigation Mr McIntyre was charged with making the phone calls.In court he pled not guilty, but was convicted on the expert's evidence. He was sentenced to 21 months, but immediately appealed both the conviction and sentence and was released on bail after a week in Barlinnie. Neither the Crown nor the defence had produced any evidence relating to telephone records.Prior to the trial Mr McIntyre had heard a man called Alan Burns admitted making the phone calls. Mr Burns had been cited to appear as a defence witness but failed to show.Mr McIntyre hired a private investigator, who tracked down Mr Burns and got him to sign an affidavit confirming he had phoned Mr Chadha. Mr Burns also agreed to provide a recording of a voice sample which an expert later said was most likely to be the person who made the abusive calls. This new evidence was presented at two appeals against conviction in 2005, but judges rejected both on technicalities.Mr McIntyre spent four more years on bail before his appeal against his 21-month sentence was heard. The court cut it to 12 months. After serving six months in Saughton he continued to fight to clear his name.In 2010, his case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which ruled he may have been a victim of a miscarriage of justice. In their view: "The evidence on which the Crown case relied is now fatally compromised."Two months ago the Appeal Court quashed the conviction and sentence.Lawyer Cameron Fyfe said: "Colin's life has been turned upside down as a result of this wrongful conviction and he has instructed me to make a claim for compensation against the Scottish Government. These claims are notoriously difficult. In a case such as Colin's you have to prove the circumstances are exceptional. My principal argument will be that it is surely exceptional for an innocent man to be imprisoned for a crime he clearly did not commit. If the Scottish Government do not regard that as exceptional, it does not say much for the quality of our justice system."A Scottish Government spokesman said: "While we cannot comment on individual cases, arrangements exist to compensate people convicted of a criminal offence that is subsequently quashed by the Appeal Court and who meet the eligibility criteria."

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Local government

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Government faces false jailing claim

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