In 2016, my son and three other men were targeted by West Midlands Police officers who ran an undercover operation alongside MI5. Together, they created a fake courier business and were lured into employment as courier drivers.

The vans were supplied by the police and were fitted with surveillance equipment. However, after months of surveillance, there was no evidence of any criminal activity.

In 2017, my son, alongside three other Muslim men known as the Birmingham Four, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The entire case hinged on a JD bag containing incriminating items that was mysteriously found in Naweed’s car when a corrupt officer, Vincent, was left alone with his car at the unit. This was on Naweed’s first shift at Hero Couriers and he gave his car keys to Vincent to park the car in the unit.

During the trial, lawyers uncovered numerous evidence showing the case was a miscarriage of justice based on fabrication by corrupt police officers.

• Officers admitted they had been accused of planting evidence in numerous other cases.
• Officers bragged about their “Oscar performance” while delivering evidence at court via text messages.
• Evidence emerged that undercover officer “Vincent” fabricated notes in the notebook documenting the operation, having received special permission to handwrite them rather than use the computerised system and getting dates and times wrong of events.
• CCTV was withheld while “Vincent” was left alone with the car before the security services arrived around one hour and twenty minutes later. It is no doubt the lockup where the car was held had CCTV installed, but none was ever disclosed, not from inside or outside from the public CCTV on the road and its surrounding streets.
• Several text messages were disclosed showing officers perverted the course of justice and were in contempt of court as they were meeting secretly at service stations, hotels and pubs and speaking to one another throughout the trial discussing evidence. Other messages exposed the disturbing culture of racism, misogyny and sexual misconduct.
• There was no conclusive DNA evidence.
• Despite being under surveillance for months, there was no evidence of any of the men purchasing the items “found” in the JD bag, nor were they ever seen with the multicoloured JD sports bag
• There was crucially no communication evidence, despite their phones and cars being bugged, from WhatsApp or anywhere else which would suggest they were planning anything.

There were many more disturbing facts during the trial.

Barrister Stephen Kamlish KC recalled. ‘It was just an utterly Islamophobic verdict by a jury who didn’t care that the whole of the evidence was bent.’

Such stories of police corruption and legal abuse aren't new for Birmingham. In the 70’s, the Birmingham 6, six Irishmen, were wrongly sentenced to life in prison on the basis of police lies. They spent 16 years in prison before being exonerated.

Police Corruption continues with a recent example of Police Officer David Carrick who used his position to rape and sexually assault dozens of women over decades. Or the tragic case of Sarah Everard and the testimonies of the many victims at the undercover police inquiry.

The justice system has failed us as a family, and has failed many others like us.

Please join me in calling upon the West Midlands Police Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster to conduct an urgent investigation into the undercover officers, named in the operation only as: “Vincent” and “Andy” as well as any others involved in this operation.

End police corruption now.

Gareth Peirce, Human Rights Lawyer statement

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