On the day when the Birmingham Six case is again before the British Appeal Court, I am raising the case of another Irish prisoner who is serving a sentence in Gartree Prison, England. This prisoner, Michael Bromell, was brought to my attention indirectly by one of the Birmingham Six, Paddy Hill, following a visit I made to the prison some months ago. Since then Michael Bromell has written to me about his case which he says is being re-examined by the Home Office since April of last year. He states that he was arrested by the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad on 7 January 1987 and convicted on what he claims to have been concocted confessions and fabricated evidence. His appeal was dismissed by Lord Woolf in November 1988 who remarked that his allegations about the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad seemed to be almost inconceivable.
On 24 July 1989, Michael Bromell again formally issued complaints against the serious crime squad and the Chief Constable, Geoffrey Dean, after the intervention of a British Member of Parliament ordered an internal investigation. The Police Complaints Authority supervised this investigation, Mr. Bromell states that the files on the prosecution case which resulted in his conviction then disappeared, presumably stolen from Warwick Crown Court. Mr. Bromell's case papers remain officially lost. It was at this time that the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was disbanded and the West Yorkshire Police called in to conduct an investigation into their activities.
A linguistic test has since been carried out on the photocopies of the prosecution papers at Mr. Bromell's request and the findings given to the Police Complaints Authority. The current position is that a decision is awaited from the Home Office as to whether the case will be referred back to the Appeal Court. I am asking the Minister to make strong representations to the British Home Secretary to bring this case to a swift conclusion.
