Exclusive: Pensioner insists he was wrongly convicted of murder 50 years ago
Kenneth Black, who says he was wrongly convicted of murder.
A PENSIONER who maintains he was wrongly convicted of murder 50 years ago has spoken of his anger after being told his case files will not be released for another three decades.
Kenneth Black, aged 74, from Duston, was convicted of stabbing to death a 20-year-old Cypriot, Christakis Phitides, in a Birmingham cafe in 1961.
After spending 10 years behind bars, as well as the last 40 years on licence, for a crime he still maintains he did not commit, Mr Black is now facing an apparent wall of secrecy as he bids to uncover the forensic proof he says will clear his name.
Attempts by the Chronicle & Echo, as well as solicitors and a crime investigator, to get hold of the files of his case have all been refused.
The files, which include evidence used in the court case, witness statements and forensic details from the murder scene, have all been embargoed for 80 years.
Despite attempts by the Chron to overturn the embargo through Freedom of Information requests and appeals, officials at The National Archives said the documents will remain closed until January 1, 2042.
Even the most simple documents, such as Mr Phitides’ birth and death certificates, have been censored.
The coroner’s service in Birmingham has even refused to release details of the inquest into Mr Phitides’ death, which are usually widely accessible to the public. A spokesman for the Coroner said: “Unfortunately, all parts of murder files are totally closed to the public.”
These decisions mean Mr Black is unlikely to ever see the evidence that ensured his conviction for murder in 1961.
The father-of-four maintains he was a victim of racist policing 50 years ago, when race relations were at a particularly low ebb.
Press reports from the time also revealed concerns that witnesses in the case were intimidated, while a key suspect in the case, and the man who Mr Black believes struck the fatal knife wound, disappeared without trace before the trial.
Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo, he said: “I lost my life, my kids. I had one son when I was arrested and my daughter was born in the same month I was sentenced.
“I lost my whole family. I didn’t get any leave for appeal and I have been trying all these years to find out what happened. I have written to a lot of people and I have got nothing.
“I would like to find out some more details about this case. I know I am not guilty.”
Ian Hitchings, a true crime writer who has attempted to investigate Mr Black’s case for him, said his conviction remained “shrouded in secrecy”.
He said: “Throughout his prison sentence Kenneth Black vigorously protested his innocence and he continues to do so to this very day. There was a lot of racial tension around then and the noble cause of police corruption was rife which in all probability regrettably resulted in securing his conviction.
“While carrying out my research into this particular horrifying crime with the view to compiling a manuscript, I have yet to see one shred of evidence which could get close to suggest Mr Black was the actual perpetrator in this case
“What’s even more suspicious is that Mr Black’s court papers, including transcripts of his trial, have been embargoed for 80 years from the date of his conviction and aren’t currently available. This whole entire case is shrouded in secrecy. I certainly haven’t come across this before.”
Case files ‘locked away’ for 80 years
OFFICIALS at The National Archives office have ruled that the release of documents surrounding the murder of Christakis Phitides would cause “mental anguish” to the family of the Cypriot if they were made public.
The archives, based at Kew, in west London, hold millions of documents and records but officials have refused requests to lift an 80-year embargo on the documents surrounding the imprisonment of Kenneth Black.
Mr Black was convicted of Mr Phitides’ murder in July 1961 at Birmingham Assizes before the presiding judge, Mr Justice Edmund Davies.
The Chronicle & Echo recently lodged a Freedom of Information request asking for the details to be made public. When the request was refused, an appeal was lodged. However, following an internal review, the appeal was turned down.
A spokesman said: “Despite the obvious passage of time, information in this file still remains extremely sensitive and would potentially be liable to cause endangerment to the mental health of living parties related to the deceased.
“Release after this length of time could be considered to have the same effect as releasing the information into the public domain at the time of the murder and would therefore be traumatic for any surviving relatives of the victim.
“It is not the actual fact that this murder occurred, but the details that would be likely to cause mental endangerment to them. In order to protect them from such mental anguish, the closure of this file is necessary.”
They added: “It has been determined that the level of detail and focus of this information, some of which is very graphic, would be significantly disturbing and distressing to the close surviving relatives of the victim.
“The possibility that they would be distressed by the release of this material is highly likely, especially as it may cause them to relive a traumatic event from their past.
“Thus the release of this material and its availability to all is likely to cause shock, harm and distress to the extent that mental endangerment may be rendered.”
Birmingham’s Coroner has also refused to release “any part” of the file following the inquest into Mr Phitides’ death.
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Comments
There are 5 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
roy k waite
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 06:27 PMsculdugery going on hear let the man see the evidence so he can prove his inosence be for he dies
dave usa
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 05:03 PMthey just cant admit there in the wrong this stuff happens all the time hear in the us but only way to get it is if you can aford the lauyer to fight it
JulietHotel
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 04:06 PMIt beggars belief that someone can't get information that could help them to prove themselves innocent simply because the file content might upset surviving relatives. I've just looked up the Ian Huntley case and got a lot of National Archive information available online with little effort that would indicate to me that the files are open. However when I look up Mr Black I only get a message about the file being closed. I can't imagine what's so sensitive that the victim's family needs to be protected from it fifty years after the fact, but the families of those poor little girls don't. It's astounding and potentially smacks of some sort of corruption that we should not turn a blind eye to.
SteveWonder
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 10:33 AMkeep digging Chron
SteveRiches
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 10:22 AMSo much for a free and open society. I didn't realise we were a police state. The man could be guilty as convicted, he could be innocent as he maintains, but locking up evidence for beyond a lifetime makes me suspicious that there will be something to hide. That goes totally against proper justice. The bit about protecting the victim's family looks like a convenient smokescreen.
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