John & Gerard Lane

This case was referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to the Court of Appeal for a second appeal on 9 December 2010.

According to Private Eye 1279, 7 January 2011, the referral was made on the basis of material found in police files which had never been disclosed to the defence. This fresh evidence is regarded by the authorities as so 'sensitive' that neither the two brothers nor their lawyers are allowed to see it!

Brett Hinsley was a self-employed electrician, and was kidnapped from his home in The Riddings, Walmley, Sutton ColdfieldSutton Coldfield, city (1991 pop. 102,572), Birmingham metropolitan district, central England. The city is a residential suburb of Birmingham with a metal products industry and a large television transmitting station.
..... Click the link for more information., Birmingham, in front of his wife and taken to a garage. It was described as a 'contract kidnapping', and a £10,000 payment was demanded in payment of an alleged debt. Mr Hinsley said that by the next morning his captors appeared to have gone and he was able to break his way out of the garage by smashing a hole through the roof with a brick.

The Lane brothers were picked out at an identity parade by Mr Hinsley in his wife. But evidence found by the CCRC reveals that this parade was 'packed out by police officers.' The brothers produced four alibi witnesses who said that they were having a meal with them in a pub at the time of the kidnapping.

Their lawyer, Maslen Merchant of Hadgkiss Hughes and Beale Solicitors, criticised the secrecy of the CCRC which is continuing to withhold the evidence which is the basis of the referral. 'Secrecy and justice do not sit comfortably together,' he told Private Eye.