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Cardiff Action Committee formed after murder trial

01 January 1991

Cardiff Action Committee formed after murder trial
artdoc July=1991

A murder investigation in Cardiff has caused concern in the
black community with an Action Committee being formed, calling
for an independent inquiry into the investigation and life
sentences meted out to Yusuf Abdullah, Tony Paris and Steve
Miller.
In 1988 Lynette White was killed. Despite the fact that
the police were initially hunting for a `blond-haired man in
bloodied and dishevelled clothes seen close to the vicinity',
nine months later five black men were arrested and charged.
Forensic tests showed that none of the men possessed blood
types which matched that of the blood and saliva found at the
scene of the killing. Three men, however, have been found
guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
At the trial, the prosecution's sole evidence lay in the
testimony of Steve Miller, who implicated the five men. But
the defence council argued that Mr. Miller possessed the
mental capacity of an eleven year old and was apt to agree
with anything suggested to him.
One member of the Action Committee commented: `there is
something sour smelling about this case and it would seem they
wish to buy our silence by giving us two of the boys, while
they hold on to the rest'. (Caribbean Times 11.12.90)

IRR Police-Media Bulletin no 66. Institute of Race Relations,
2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS