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Patrick Maguire: ‘When I see Sam, I see something is wrong’ |
‘I looked into his eyes... I knew I was not in the company of a murderer’
Victim of notorious 1970s miscarriage of justice backs campaign to free convicted killer
AN artist and writer who was the victim of a shocking miscarriage of justice in the 1970s has “looked into the eyes” of convicted murderer Sam Hallam and decided he is no killer.
Patrick Maguire, the youngest of the “Maguire Seven”, recently visited the 22-year-old in Bullingdon prison, Oxfordshire. As a 14-year-old Mr Maguire was wrongly convicted of aiding the Guildford pub IRA bombings in 1973.
Mr Hallam, known officially as prisoner MW5897, was sentenced to 12 years for his part in the brutal gang murder of Essayas Kassahun, an Ethiopian refugee, in St Luke’s estate, Clerkenwell, in 2004. He has spent five years behind bars for a sickening attack he denies taking part in.
Mr Maguire told the Tribune: “I have lived with murders and I know what they are like. Looking at Sam, he’s a tiny little fellow. You couldn’t say he did it. I looked into his eyes. You can’t hide nothing in prison. You can’t lie. When I was sitting with Sam I knew I was not in the company of a murderer.”
He added: “I met Sam in prison three times. The first time he stood up and gave me a big hug and said: ‘Pat, I never done this’.
Mr Maguire told the Tribune that his life has never been the same since his “childhood” was taken away by a “giant” police officer who arrested him at his home in Kilburn. After serving a four-yer sentence, he left prison like an “unguided missile” and fell into a life of violent crime and drugs – before being diagnosed with manic depression and admitting himself to the Priory Clinic. His conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Mr Maguire has since written a book and his art is being displayed near his home in Kilburn.
He added: “Sam is a lovely kid. I’d like to think I’d be campaigning for him even if I hadn’t been a miscarriage of justice. But as someone who has suffered in the same way, I can tell you that when I see Sam, I see something is wrong.”
The campaign to free Mr Hallam is backed by actor Ray Winstone, whose nephew is a close friend of Mr Hallam’s, and Islington North Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn.
A dossier of fresh evidence was sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, last year. It included at least six new statements from people who witnessed the attack on Mr Kassahun and are prepared to testify that Sam was not present.
The CCRC, which has the power to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, says it is investigating.
Mr Hallam, a former student at Islington’s Central Foundation School, told the Tribune during a prison visit with his mother on his 22nd birthday that he was playing football half a mile away at the time of the murder.
Essays Kassahun died from a stab wound to the head as he came to the aid of his friend, Louis Colley, who was being assaulted by the 40-strong gang.
Mr Hallam was found guilty of the murder along with another defendant, Bullabek Ringbiong, 20, at the Old Bailey in September 2005. There was no CCTV or forensic evidence linking him to the crime. He was convicted solely on the basis of eye-witness evidence, which his defence counsel claimed was so weak there was no case to answer. The judge ruled the evidence was strong enough to go before the jury, which found him guilty. |
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