21 December 2004

Guard wins appeal against armed robbery conviction

Graham Huckerby, 45, had served nearly three years of a 14-year sentence after he was convicted for his role as inside man in the robbery of cash and cheques from his Securicor van in Salford in 1995, Britain's largest cash raid.

Mr Huckerby has been freed on bail while the prosecution decides its next move. Among his supporters were Paddy Hill, of the Birmingham Six, and the campaign groups Innocent and the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Mojo.)

He said at the time of the incident that he had cooperated with the raiders and allowed them onto the van as he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following a previous raid on his van in which a colleague was stabbed.

Following his conviction, he suffered from depression for two years in jail and needed medication to control it.

Yesterday, in a judgment handed down by three judges at the appeal court in London, his conviction was quashed. Judge Lord Justice Potter said it was "in the interests of justice" to consider new medical evidence given at the appeal about Mr Huckerby's state of mind during the robbery.

"Having done so, we are not satisfied as to the safety of the conviction," the judge said.

An acquaintance of Mr Huckerby's, James Power, 62, from Bury, who was also jailed for 14 years as an accomplice, also had his conviction quashed. The court also set aside confiscation orders made against the men of £50,000 each or 15 months in prison.

"My mum already looks 10 years younger," said Mr Huckerby's sister Susan Kelly yesterday as she fought back tears. "She thought she was never going to see Graham in her house again.

Mr Huckerby's solicitor, Maslen Merchant, said he was absolutely overjoyed at the outcome, following three years' work on the case. But he said his client was still extremely anxious about a possible third trial a decade after the event. Mr Huckerby said in a statement: "I am excited and overjoyed at my release, especially this close to Christmas. Not only is Christmas just days away, two of my children celebrate their birthdays over the next week - this will be the best Christmas our family ever had."

No one else was ever convicted for the raid, nor any of the stolen money recovered.

The prosecution said he had received a £1,000 bribe before the robbery - but he said it was money his mother Ruth, 76, had given him to buy furniture.

Greater Manchester Police claimed Mr Huckerby had been financially stretched before the raid, yet enjoyed a change of fortune afterwards, paying off debts and taking a series of holidays.

Mr Huckerby, from Prestwich, north Manchester, was first arrested in 1999 but convicted seven years after the robbery, in a retrial in 2002.

He has not seen his daughter, now 21, for five years, after his former wife gave evidence for the prosecution, and has never seen his grandson.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1378287,00.html

The Case
On Thursday 14 March 2002 Graham Huckerby (pictured above with his girlfriend Luci) was convicted of 'Conspiracy To Commit Armed Robbery,' further to one of Europe's biggest ever cash robberies on 3 July 1995, in which £6.6 million was stolen. He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Graham was driving the security van which was attacked.

The Evidence

The Prosecution's case is shown in bold

1. He let the robbers on to the van and failed to operate the security systems

At this time Graham was faced by a number of masked robbers, one pointed a gun at him and told him they had taken his colleague hostage and threatened to 'blow his f***king head off.'

The robbers told him to open the door of the van. Since Graham believed that life was threatened he complied with the request as he had been trained to do.

He was genuinely terrified for his own life and that of his colleague. He did not have time to think about operating the security measures.

2. He made telephone calls to a long-standing acquaintance (also convicted of this offence) and vice versa in the year 1995

This telephone contact was established for years, prior to and after the 1995 robbery. The telephone calls were made from Graham's own home, in the main they were seconds long and in the evening, indicating they were about arranging to meet in the pub for a drink.

The telephone calls have been lifted from BT itemised billing in 1995. BT itemised billing only became available in 1995 and so could not be provided as evidence for the period prior to the 1995 robbery. There is no evidence whatsoever in this case regarding who made the call, who received it or what the call was about.

Graham was asked at his trial in March 2002 to remember those telephone calls made and received seven years after the event.

Can you remember a phone call made or received seven years ago?

3. He deposited £2400 into his Barclays Bank account in the years 1995/1996. He enjoyed a 'jet set' lifestyle, which included 'expensive' gifts for his daughter and a number of foreign holidays after the 1995 robbery.

This figure includes £600 conceded by the Crown to have come from Graham's mother (it is shown being withdrawn from her Halifax account on 14 August 1995, on the very same day Graham pays it in to his Barclays account.)

The expensive gifts for his daughter were shown in evidence to be, a pair of Kickers shoes, about 2 CD's and some Lulu perfume (from Blackpool) in September 1995. Her birthday was on 1 October 1995.

He has only been on 2 foreign holidays since 1995. One in 1996 when he stayed with his cousin in LA and one week in Corfu taken in 1999.

The remaining money, approximately £1500, was repayment of money he had lent a friend in 1993. Graham's friend was called as a defence witness in the case and he was able to produce a full record of these repayments.

By any reasonable criteria no aspect of Graham's life, either before or after the 1995 robbery can be described as "Jet Set".

4. He was restless and preoccupied at Oldham Royal Hospital the day before the robbery when visiting his daughter Lauren

Lauren then aged 11, had been in hospital for several days, in severe pain, no diagnosis had yet been made but appendicitis was suspected.

No one at the hospital appeared to be doing anything for Lauren and it was this that had made him agitated.

5. He allegedly had about £1000 in cash in May of 1995 – A 'sweetener for the robbery' the Crown say

Graham's parents gave him money to buy a sofa and a bed in that same May (1995) to furnish a house he had just moved into with his then girlfriend.

6. He allegedly told his girlfriend he was 'involved' in the robbery weeks later in 1995

He did talk of being 'involved' but as a victim not conspirator.

His now ex-girlfriend only disclosed this 4 years later, after being arrested for the same offence. There was no evidence whatsoever against her.

She was held for 36 hours, interviewed four times and by her own admission intolerably pressurised, bullied and frightened by the police. Having made her statement she was released without charge.

7 years later - Not one penny of the £6.6 million stolen in the 1995 Salford robbery has been recovered by the police and the robbers have never been caught.

The above is a summary of the total evidence presented by the Crown at Graham's trial and he was convicted on the basis of this evidence.