West Midlands Serious Crime Squad detective not ‘a witness of truth’ (2003)

(Retrieved from BBC News, 3rd October 2003)

A man jailed for seven years for drugs offences has had his convictions overturned because of doubts about police evidence against him.

Lloyd George Fraser, 47, from Coopers Road, Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, was imprisoned in November 1993 after he was convicted on two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

His case was later examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, who questioned the credibility of a West Midlands Serious Crime Squad detective who testified against Mr Fraser at his trial.

Mr Fraser, who said police planted cannabis in his car before his arrest, saw his convictions quashed at London’s Appeal Court on Friday.

Disciplinary investigations

Mr Fraser, a taxi driver, had been arrested in Winson Green after police said they saw him entering and leaving a house in which they later discovered a 12-kilogramme stash of cannabis, worth £120,000.

At his trial, the prosecution linked Mr Fraser to the drugs hoard by a “twist” of cannabis resin, allegedly found in his car and said to come from the haul.

Lord Justice Auld said that Fraser’s convictions could not now be considered safe because it was no longer accepted that one detective who gave evidence could be seen as a “witness of truth”.

The Appeal Court heard that, since Mr Fraser’s trial, new information had come to light about the officer.

Lord Justice Auld said: “Suffice to say that his conduct in other suspected drugs cases has become the subject of a number of disciplinary investigations”.

The detective was ultimately cleared of disciplinary charges.