Abdullahi and Paris were swiftly granted leave to appeal and their lawyers worked hard on their behalf. Miller's case was not even being investigated then except by us. We were convinced that he had been bullied and that he was innocent, but we still had to convince Gareth Peirce who refused to take the case until she was convinced that a meaningful appeal could be prepared for him. Thankfully there was the court of last resort – the media. Documentaries were made, column inches filled and radio programmes broadcast too. It resulted in useful contacts being developed, some of whom had resources that we didn't.

Abdullahi and Paris benefited from a campaign ran by their family. Malik Abdullahi became an accomplished speaker and well known on the campaign circuit along with Tony's brother, Lloyd, both of whom have important stories to tell of the price they had to pay to fight against an injustice that was not of their making as well. They chose to campaign for Miller too and the profile raised had the desired effect. Doors opened and evidence began to emerge that could challenge Miller's confession. It wasn't difficult to argue that the full significance of Miller's vulnerability had been missed, but it was clearly available at trial and therefore not new. His interviews had been available too, as had the important statements regarding the Casablanca nightclub. It looked catastrophic as Miller had been failed miserably by his previous lawyers and then left to fend for himself. The criminal justice system held a vulnerable man with the intelligence of a child capable of running his defence. Such arrant nonsense could have kept an entirely innocent man behind bars for several years.

Meanwhile, Paris' lawyers had problems of their own. His conviction was not the fault of his lawyers. It was obvious that the jury had not believed Vilday or Psaila and that they had actually reached their verdicts by unlawfully relying on Miller's confession. Nothing else can explain the verdicts, but according to the law, this had not happened. Mr Justice Leonard had told them that they could not use the confession against the Actie cousins, or Abdullahi and Paris. That was enough as far as the criminal justice system was concerned, but it wasn't and worst of all this unlawfully used confession could not be challenged by Miller's co-accused effectively. They could not have him examined for signs of suggestibility, or hire experts to combat its credibility. The criminal justice system afforded them no greater protection than a few well chosen words in the summing-up of Mr Justice Leonard that were promptly ignored. This was bad enough, but worse was to follow; it wasn't even a ground of appeal as no research is permitted on how juries reached their verdict. Either the jury plucked its verdict from thin air, or it ignored the judge on a point of law – his function, both of which are equally unlawful, but despite being the victims of such verdicts the Cardiff Three remained in prison awaiting appeal and would do so for more than two years since their wrongful convictions.

by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 29th 2008)