Month: July 2022

 

On Monday 18^th July 2022 BTPHG and BTP signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the relationship between the group and the force. It marks an important stage in the development of the BTPHG and comes about after years of work by members of the group (and especially the founding members) to demonstrate to the force that BTPHG is a serious partner when it comes to preserving the history of railway, dock and canal policing. The MOU covers issues such as the provision of accommodation for our archive, joint working with BTP Records Management and Learning and Development departments and how data will be handled. The Chief Constable was very open to the creation of an MOU and ensured that discussions about the content were speedily processed. We are especially grateful to the Chief of Staff at FHQ (Steff Sharp) for all her work to get a form of words that is both meaningful and helpful. More information will appear in the next edition of History Lines.

Philip Trendall (Chair)

 

BTPHG comment on the news item shown below:

Our history is a proud one but, like all forces there are parts of our past we wish hadn’t happened.  The impact of police corruption has a very long shadow. The activities of Ridgewell and his associates represent a low point in our history. The BTPHG has worked to uncover historical records that expose such crimes and will continue to do so. The efforts of BTP to confront the past and to deal with its legacy have the full support of the BTPHG.

 

News Report – shown as reported:

A bursary for black students studying law is being established by the British Transport Police (BTP) to make amends for the actions of a corrupt detective more than 50 years ago, The Telegraph reports.

The scheme, to be launched next year, follows an apology from the BTP to a group of men who were wrongfully convicted in 1972 of attempting to rob an officer – Det Sgt Derek Ridgewell, head of the force’s anti-mugging squad.

He had been linked to a number of miscarriages of justice against young black men and was later convicted of stealing mailbags.

In December 2019, four men, who were known as the Oval Four, had their convictions for stealing handbags on the London Underground quashed.

Another group of the corrupt detective’s victims, the Stockwell Six, had their convictions, from 1972, quashed on appeal.

The force has said it will now use the money from the Proceeds of Crime Act to fund a bursary to help a British African undertake a law degree.

Lucy D’Orsi, Chief Constable of BTP, said: “Last year we issued an apology for the trauma suffered by the British African community through the criminal actions of former police officer Derek Ridgewell, who worked at BTP in the 1960s and 1970s.

“His inexcusable actions led to the conviction of innocent people and do not define the BTP today. It is important to do more than simply apologise and commit to learning from our past.

“We want to bring about real and meaningful change – improving community trust and confidence, whilst investing in future talent. This bursary aims to ensure that British African communities are better represented within the UK judicial system, which will benefit us all.”

 

Source: Scottish Legal News

H/T to John Owen for spotting this item.

 

On Wednesday, 29th June 2022, the BTPHG had an online presentation, delivered via ZOOM. This is the second time we have used video conferencing for BTPHG presentations, so this continues to be something of an experiment. If this is considered a success we will run other sessions on matters connected with the history of policing the railways, canals and docks of Great Britain. We have a number of potential speakers lined up and we hope that video conferencing will enable us to better engage with our members and others interested in our history.

This time the presenter was our past Chair(man) Viv Head, with one of his specialist subjects: Policing the Docks in South Wales.

A video recording of the presentation is available here: Policing the Docks: Cardiff & South Wales