James Power

Years in prison:
2.5
Year of crime:
1995
Year conviction was overturned:
2004

Graham Huckerby and James Power were convicted of robbbery after a Securicor van, driven by Huckerby, was subject to a robbery of over £6.5 million in cash and cheques by a gang of at least three masked men. At the time of the robbery, Huckerby failed to activate the data track device inside his van, leading the prosecution to infer that he was an inside man. Power was alleged to be the handler of the stolen money, due to phone calls between himself and Huckerby. Evidence was introduced of a conversaion between Huckerby and his girlfriend that was said to amount to a confession. On appeal, Huckerby introduced expert evidence that he was suffering from acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as severe depressive reaction, and that his actions in failing to trigger the alarm were explicable on that basis. Having admitted this evidence the court did not feel satisfied as to the safety of the convictions and allowed the appeal. The Crown did not seek a retrial since they no longer believed that there was a realistic prospect of conviction.

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View Press (innocent.org.uk)

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  • Offence: Robbery / burglary
  • Jurisdiction: England & Wales
  • County: Greater Manchester 
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: M
  • Years in prison: 2.5
  • Offence convicted of: Robbery
  • Year of crime: 1995
  • Year of initial conviction: 1995
  • Year conviction was overturned: 2004
  • Age when imprisoned: Unknown
  • CCRC Referral: N
  • Tried with others: Y
  • Link to full case: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2004/3251.html
  • Type of fresh evidence at appeal: Other
  • Compensation: Unknown
  • Crown argued case at CofA: Yes
  • Retrial: No
  • Previous appeals: None