Paul went out to repair a car and, ten months later, was charged with the murder of a stranger |
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Muslim killed for daring to pursue divorce cash claim by Terri Judd  Friday, 8 August 2003 |
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Paul Bush: a classic case of wrong place at the wrong time Paul Bush is currently in Kingston prison serving 17 years for the kidnap and murder of Yasmin Akhtar, a woman he never knew or met. He was convicted with three other people two of which he never knew or had met and one person who is the brother of a friend that he had casually met once some time ago.
Paul Bush is one of many cases being assisted by MOJO (Miscarriage of Justice Organisation) to overturn his conviction. Paul Bush is totally innocent of these crimes and is only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In 2002 Paul was working self employed buying, selling and repairing cars. When that business went quiet he would do a bit of building work with a friend of his. He had recently met a woman called Paula and a serious relationship was blooming. Life was looking pretty rosy. On 4th March 2002, whilst out having a coffee with a friend, Paul received a call on his mobile from Ralph Alleyne. Alleyne explained that his brother Lance had given him Paul's number because he was having problems with his car. Paul was friends with Lance and had sorted out purchase and repairs of cars for him in the past. Lance passed what work he could Paul's way; word of mouth was how Paul got much of his business. Alleyne explained that he had a Chrysler Voyager that wouldn't start. He was at an address in Redhill, could Paul help him out. Paul said that he wasn't familiar with Redhill but he wasn't too far away and so he would make his way over. On route there were further calls between them as Paul asked for directions to Coleman Way where the breakdown had taken place. On arrival Paul found Alleyne waiting at the car seemingly on his own. It was coming up to 6:00pm and getting dark. Paul looked under the bonnet and found the battery was drained, there was a loose connection and that could have contributed to the problem. Using jump leads Paul got the car started. Alleyne was in a hurry he prepared to leave. He told Alleyne he didn't owe him anything as it was a trivial 'repair' but if Alleyne needed help in the future to contact him. Ten minutes after he had arrived Paul was driving homeward. He rang Alleyne to check that he had no further problems, which he hadn't and continued on his way. Just another day in the life of a car repair man. What Paul didn't know was that he had just stepped in and out of a parallel world of violence and brutal recriminations. He didn't know that Ralph Alleyne had broken down outside the flat of Yasmin Akhtar who he was in the process of kidnapping possibly with the help of his accomplice David Quarry. At some point either before Paul arrived or after he left Yasmin Akhtar was to be brutally murdered and her partly burned body was found in a park shortly after midnight. Paul remained oblivious of the horrific events that evening for 10 months until on 5th January 2003 when Paul was arrested and taken to Wandsworth Police Station. When he was told why he was being arrested he replied 'Is this a wind up?' Taken to a police station and asked his whereabouts 10 months prior at first he was unable to recall his visit to Redhill and simply denied any knowledge of the events and address. Later with his solicitor and cell phone records he was able to piece together what had happened. Paul tried to be cooperative and spoke more than he was advised to by his solicitor. He had nothing to hide he thought why shouldn't he.
>From there on the nightmare started to engulf his life and seven years later Paul finds him self divorced, out of touch with his children and family and no nearer proving his innocence. Paul's case contains a familiar catalogue of hollow reassurances from his defence team, uncalled witnesses, questionable forensics, badly prepared defence and appeals, indifference from the courts and tens of £1,000s spent on ineffective legal representation. At trial it was accepted that he was not present when Yasmin was murdered but his cell phone and DNA on matches allegedly put him at the scene of the kidnap and his failure to immediately recall his movements ten months earlier was portrayed as him lying until he could 'come up with the car repair story'. The prosecution claimed he was a last minute recruit to the kidnap and therefore in a joint enterprise of murder. Due to the support and persistence of his parents Paul has now got the support of MOJO who are working on an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). A MOJO spokesperson said 'We are fully in support of Paul Bush and are currently investigating several avenues of inquiry to take his case back to the court of appeal.' If you have any information please contact Paul Bush C/o MOJO
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