[Originally published in The Huffington Post]
Way back in 1984 when I was a little girl with no idea what my future
held, the law took a wrong turn. A turn I was oblivious to, but one
that would one day engulf my entire life for over eight and a half
years.
On a hot summer night in 1991 I gave birth to my first
child, a healthy baby boy with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.
Less than a year later I did the same again. I was the luckiest woman
in the world; they were my pride and joy, always full of fun and
sometimes a little bit naughty. I don't recall a month, a week or even a
day that I was unhappy, although I am certain there must have been
moments.
Everything changed in 2007 again on a hot summers night
when both my 15 year old boys were charged with the murder of Garry
Newlove. None of us knew Mr Newlove, his wife or his three daughters,
but all of us were overwhelmed with grief that a 47 year old man had
died so unnecessarily in his bare feet just 500 yards from his home. I
am no detective but it was clear in the initial police interviews that
my boys not only played no part in his attack, but they had not even
witnessed it.
The press reported it as a savage gang attack, yet
the Police Forensic Pathologist on oath, said the victims injuries were
not consistent with a beating, that Mr Newlove had died because of a
single unique injury. For all of us the trial process was about finding
the truth, giving that truth to the jury so they could reach the correct
verdict and satisfying the bereaved family that justice had been done.
The
jury came back after 10 agonising days of deliberations and out of the
five teenage defendants they found three of them guilty of joint
enterprise murder and acquitted two. One of those found guilty was my
eldest son, Jordan Cunliffe, by now he was age 16, but still my baby.
The terrified pitch of the scream that came from his broken heart will
be a sound I will never forget. The sight of his beautiful brown eyes as
they blindly tried to search his brother out will be a vision I will
carry until my dying day. How could the British justice system that
claims to be the finest in the world, do this to a vulnerable child, a
child who was proven in court not to have murdered anyone, yet still
found him guilty of murder? It was because the law took a wrong turn in
1984, when I was a little girl and long before he was born.
The
months turned in to years, the agony into frustration, but never
bitterness. I knew the law was wrong, I knew my boy was innocent, so I
set out on a mission to prove just that. With a strong feeling that he
could not possibly be the only one that this dreadful thing had happened
to I sought out others. I was lucky enough to meet like-minded women
who felt just as I did. Beautiful, courageous women who trusted my
judgement and supported me through my darkest days. And believe me those
days were very dark, so dark and filled with madness I refuse to step
too close even when just recalling them.
Jordan was considered
registered blind on the night of the incident. He suffers from acute
kerataconus and corneal scaring in both eyes. No matter how hard Jordan
tried then or how he tries now he will never be able to explain what
happened that night as his failing eyes saw nothing. On conviction the
Judge in his wisdom placed a gagging order on anyone broadcasting his
disability, all of which added further to my extreme misery. How could I
explain his case to people if the most important aspect of who he was
could never be told? There were so many things during the trial and
afterwards that have gone wrong for Jordan. The use of the possibility
of foresight that death or serious injury may occur during a spontaneous
act of violence that lasted between 3 and 10 seconds on a blind child
was just one them. How can anyone logically foresee what may unfold if
they cannot see what is happening in the first place?
I am now
overjoyed that the Supreme Court made the right decision on Thursday
18th February 2016, when they came to the conclusion that the
controversial legal doctrine of joint enterprise had taken a wrong turn
and since then been misinterpreted for over three decades. It was
vindication for all I have been saying for over 8 years. I wish I was
the kind of woman that could say the agony of losing Jordan was worth it
if it means what happened to him will never happen quite so easily ever
again, but I would be a liar. Until Jordan Cunliffe is acquitted he
must remain in prison and continue serving a life sentence for a murder
he never committed. And as his mother I will continue to fight for the
freedom and respect that he deserves.
Information regarding Joint Enterprise can be found on the JENGbA Campaigners website http://www.jointenterprise.co/
By Jan Cunliffe (Joint Enterprise not guilty by association (JENGbA) co-founder and campaigner)
