COURT OF APPEAL QUASHES POULTER AND BIGGS THEFT CONVICTIONS

The Court of Appeal has quashed the 1976 convictions of Christopher Poulter and Kevin Biggs for stealing mailbags, nearly 50 years after they were found guilty. Judges ruled the men were wrongly convicted on the basis of false evidence given by Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell, a British Transport Police officer whose conduct has since been discredited. Mr Poulter and Mr Biggs become the 14th and 15th people to have convictions linked to Ridgewell's misconduct overturned. Mr Biggs died in 2004, before his conviction was cleared, while Mr Poulter carried a criminal record for most of his life.

The two men were convicted of taking 13 mailbags from a wagon at Clapham goods yard in London. Ridgewell provided the false evidence used to secure their convictions at the time, and has since been linked to a series of other wrongful convictions. Lawyers representing Mr Poulter and Mr Biggs criticised British Transport Police for taking decades to address the corruption associated with his conduct. Mr Poulter and Mr Biggs are among a growing number of people whose convictions have been reconsidered since Ridgewell's misconduct came to light.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which referred the case to the Court of Appeal, has invited further potential victims of Ridgewell to apply for their convictions to be reviewed. The commission said it wants to hear from anyone who believes they were wrongly convicted as a result of his evidence. Mr Poulter and Mr Biggs are the latest in a series of cases connected to Ridgewell to be overturned by the Court of Appeal. Lawyers said the decades taken to identify and correct the convictions raised questions about how British Transport Police handled the matter.