Ruth Wyner and John Brock
Also known as the Cambridge Two
The hate, spite and vengeance industry really surpassed themselves with this one. These good people were charity workers who now find themselves in prison for doing good. Only people with really twisted minds could have done this to them. The judge who gave out such draconian sentences would have made Judge Jefferys (1648-89, the hanging judge) proud.
Ruth and John ran a drop-in-day centre for homeless people in Cambridge. People, who those in power care nothing about. Anyone caught or suspected of dealing in drugs was banned and yet some members of the flat-footed brigade with cotton wool for brains - well what can you say, except the justice system of this country is completely barmy. No wonder more and more people have less and less respect for it. A recent London demonstration attracted several thousand supporters and a 20,000 name petition was presented to the Home Office which I presume they will ignore like the mass of other injustice in Britain.
Copied from the Wintercomfort site
The police action began in February 1998 when two
undercover policemen calling themselves 'Ed' and 'Swampy' began calling at the Wintercomfort
Day Centre and involving themselves in secret drug deals taking place between some
of the homeless customers. They were backed up by a surveillance camera hidden under
the roof of a building on the opposite side of the street. In May, 1998, the operation
was concluded with the arrests of eight drug dealers and Ruth and John.
The trial
began 18 months later at Kings Lynn Crown Court and lasted seven weeks involving
evidence from 300 hours of videotape. By the end of the trial it became clear that
one of the two principal matters at issue was whether or not John and Ruth should
give the names of suspected drug dealers to the police. They argued that they should
not because this would put Wintercomfort staff at risk from reprisals and underline
the principle of client confidentially that was an important element in helping homeless
people come off the streets. The judge ruled that client confidentiality was not
a defence in law. (He would, wouldn't he?)
The other matter concerned the size of
the drug problem at the Day Centre. The prosecution argued that Ruth and John were
not doing enough to combat it. Ruth and John responded that this was because they
had not been aware of how bad it was and that they did not have the resources to
tackle it more effectively.
A month later, on December 17th 1999, Ruth and John were
sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court to five years and four years respectively.
There is a site completely dedicated to getting these ridiculous convictions overturned and these good people released and exonerated. You will find the latest news at http://www.wintercomfort-justice.org
www.slimeylimeyjustice.org