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They only tell us what they want us to know.....An Anti Austerity Demo gathered outside the BBC headquarters in London the other weekend, ...


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MAKE SENSE OF THE SENSELESS ! / QUESTION THE QUESTIONABLE ! / SHOUT ABOVE THE NOISE !

Sunday 17 January 2010

"I see his life come shining....He shall be released"


In 1980 a young punk rocker Gary Critchley was found on the pavement outside a place called the Campbell Buildings in Waterloo, London. In one of the squatted flats upstairs another young man lay dead. Gary suffered a broken back, ankle and wrist and was left brain damaged by a hammer blow to the head. In the flat Edward Mcneill had been beaten to death with a hammer. Gary was charged with his murder. Evidence was flimsy and scant in an age before DNA but in a time of dodgy policing. In 1981 Gary was convicted of Edward McNeill’s murder. Nearly 30 years later he is still residing at Her Majesties Pleasure. If the above sounds like the basis of a work of fiction, it’s not; it’s fact. The only fiction is that there is any Just in the British Justice system. The appeal court have upheld his conviction and at present the Criminal Case Review Commission are refusing to send his case back for further consideration. Unlike other miscarriages of justice Gary hasn’t been afforded any high profile campaigns; his case has gone unnoticed until now. A more detailed account of the case in an article from Private Eye Magazine can be found here . Recollections of life at The Campbell Buildings, and an extract from the book Trash Can by Bob Short (former Guitarist in post-punk and pronto gothsters Blood and Roses) which is an account of the time he spent living at the Campbell Buildings can be found here on the Kill Your Pet Puppy site. To find out more about Gary’s life and to see more of his artwork, and writings go here to The Life (Sentence) and Art Of Gary Critchley. The rest is up to you. You decide!

5 comments:

Longy said...

How can anyone inflict those kind of injuries to murder someone with a broken back and the other injuries? I smell a miscarriage of justice! Gary is innocent okay!

Stephscott2 said...

Sadly a too common occurance! Prisons hold too many innocent people whilst outside too many criminals get away with murder etc. Just ask Blair Peach's family!

Anonymous said...

I have read the PDF document regaring the case twice. It is difficult to know what to say.

One suggestion - Contacting the campaign group Liberty regarding this case may be an option that has not been explored.

Also, the names of the original 'Witnesses' must be on record. It should not be too difficult for Gary's legal team to trace them and re-interview them. But I guess they, the witnesses, would have to be agreeable to it.

Good luck.

Arcadia said...

well done for putting this up nuzz,i'm sure gary will be chuffed to know folk are spreading the word about this injustice,that seems like such a feeble description of his experience,i hope more people who do blogs would write about it too.
i have had a couple of letters from him one was a great piece of artwork that i'm going to get framed.
just about to send him another letter.
folk can write to him at 'GARY CRITCHLEY,B39969,HM PRISON,GARTREE,LEICESTER,LE16 7RP.
ALSO MORE INFO AT THE LINKS YOU PROVIDED,HE NEEDS CLOTHES,BUT YOU NEED TO WRITE TO HIM TELLING HIM YOU WANT TO SEND HIM SOME SO HE APPLIES FOR PERMISSION TO RECIEVE THEM.
IF folk do write inclide a stamp(only 1 allowed otherwise they get confiscated!).
he also would appreciate postal orders,couple of quid helps him buy stuff from the prison shop,i dont think the inmates are allowed anything more than 5 pounds.
he also would like art materials,paint and brushes etc,you need to send them to Julie Coimbra at jac46@cam.ac.uk.,email her for the address to send them too.
remember he's one of us,an ageing punk who's missed out on 28 long years of his life,lets help him out and make life a tad more bearable inside,and remember,one day the truth will out.
good luck,spread the word.
thanks,jock.

Arcadia said...

how about putting a link for this down the side of your blog page then it wont get lost and forgotten in the 100's of blogposts you write up?just a thought maybe?