For the past 17 years Winston Silcott has been an infamous figure in the media – still linked to a murder the courts now say he did not commit.
Twice convicted of murder, and cleared of one of the killings on appeal, he has long been a symbolic figure for campaigners who believe his jailing had more to do with prejudice than justice.
Silcott, 43, was released from prison on Monday.
But to this day he remains infamous for the murder he was wrongly convicted of (a white policeman), rather than the one for which he has served almost 18 years in jail (a black nightclub bouncer).
His conviction for the murder of PC Keith Blakelock was ultimately overturned by the Court of Appeal but he remained in jail for the earlier murder of Anthony Smith, an incident which he claims was self-defence. BBC online article 20th October 2003
In 1985 the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham, north London, witnessed one of the worst nights of civil unrest anywhere on mainland Europe. A result of the simmering tensions between mostly black youths and members of the Metropolitan police. Crimes that Shook Britain s7e4: Keith Blakelock, CI 2017
The brutality of that night led to the horrific murder of a policeman called Keith Blakelock. It resulted in one of the most infamous police investigations in British history … a terrible miscarriage of justice. ibid.
The discontent on Broadwater Farm was also reflected on a much wider scale with an outpouring of violence across the streets of Britain in the early Autumn of 1985. ibid.
‘Almost like vultures pecking at this person.’ ibid. fellow PC
All of us were pessimistic in the light of a tidal wave of prejudicial material in the press. ibid. Blakelock’s brief
BLANCHARD, GYPSY ROSE & NICHOLAS GODEJOHN: Mommy Dead and Dearest TV -
Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office 15th June 2015 10:40 p.m.: Police have brought in Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a 19-year-old woman from Springfield, Missouri, for questioning regarding the death of her mother. Mommy Dead and Dearest, Sky Atlantic 2017
‘Things are not always as they appear.’ ibid. rozzer
‘She asked me to.’ ibid. boyfriend
‘I fucken slashed that fat pig and raped her sweet innocent daughter … Her scream was soooo fucken loud lol’. ibid. Facebook
‘The appearance of a long financial fraud scheme.’ ibid. rozzer
‘If I had to say one word about her it would be overprotective.’ ibid. Gypsy
‘In my opinion Munchausen by Proxy … It is a form of child abuse.’ ibid. doctor
Almost all of Gypsy’s relationship with Nick was online role play. ibid.
Ten years. ibid.
BLANCO, GRISELDA: Gangsters: America’s Most Evil: The Godmother TV - Mail online -
‘Very few women have risen to the levels of Griselda Blanco.’ Gangsters: America’s Most Evil: The Godmother s1e3, expert, Reelz 2012
‘If anybody deserves to be on death row it is Griselda Blanco.’ ibid. rozzer
Conspiring to import and distribute literally tons of cocaine into the United States. She’s accused of ordering dozens of murders. ibid.
She had been wanted in New York for more than a decade since Operation Banshee. ibid.
A ruthless drug smuggler known as the ‘Godmother of Cocaine’ who was jailed in the US for three chilling murders has been gunned down by a motorcycle-riding hitman.
Griselda Blanco, 69, was believed to have ordered dozens of executions during the notorious ‘cocaine cowboys’ era of the 1970s and 80s in Miami.
In a grim irony, the mode of her killing was eerily similar to the brutal drive-by killings she herself introduced to slaughter her enemies.
Gangland matriarch Griselda Blanco shot in head as she left butcher’s –
Colombian jailed in US for three murders, including a two-year-old boy –
Mother-of-four credited with inventing idea of a ‘motorcycle assassin’ –
Symbolised notorious ‘cocaine cowboys’ era of 1970s and 80s Miami –
At its height, her empire shipped around 3,400lbs of cocaine a month –
Ex-detective: ‘It’s surprising to all of us she had not been killed sooner.’ Mail online article 19th June 2013. ‘Miami Vice: Godmother of Cocaine who built Florida drug empire shot dead in her Colombian hometown by assassin on motorbike’
BLOODSWORTH, KIRK [viz Miscarriages of Justice: Bloodsworth]: CrimeViral online - Innocence Project online -
Just twenty-two years old at the time of his conviction, former Marine, Kirk Bloodsworth is the first person to have been sentenced to death, and then exonerated thanks to DNA testing. Bloodsworth served nine years of his sentence for the murder and rape of a nine year old girl – two of which were spent on death row.
Eye-witnesses described the perpetrator as 6 feet 5, blond and skinny, Bloodsworth however, is six feet tall, was heavily over-weight, and had red hair. In addition, there was no physical evidence tying him to the crime. On retrial, the death sentence was reduced to two life sentences. In the 90s, the advent of DNA testing resulted in his release from jail. He was not exonerated until 2003 when the real killer was identified by DNA evidence added to the federal database. CrimeViral online report, ‘10 Miscarriage of Justice that Shocked the World’
Kirk Bloodsworth, a former Marine who had become a waterman on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was the first person to be sentenced to death and then subsequently exonerated. He was 22-years-old at the time of his wrongful conviction and served nine years in prison before he was released.
In 1984, a nine-year-old girl was found dead in a wooded area, having been sexually assaulted, strangled, and beaten with a rock.
Bloodsworth was arrested based on an anonymous call telling police that he was seen with the victim that day and an identification made by a witness from a police sketch shown on television. The description of the perpetrator was a 6 feet, 5 inches tall white man with curly blond hair, a bushy moustache, skinny, and tan. Bloodsworth was six feet, had red hair, and was well over 200 pounds.
At trial, five witnesses testified that they had seen Bloodsworth with the victim. However, two of these witnesses had not been able to identify Bloodsworth during a lineup, but had seen him after the crime was committed on television. Testimony that Bloodsworth had said that he had done something terrible that day that would affect his relationship with his wife was presented at trial. Additionally, Bloodsworth mentioned a bloody rock during conversations with police.
Though there was no physical evidence connecting him to the crime, Bloodsworth was convicted of rape and murder and was sentenced to death row.