December 2005
After 15 years of maintaining that he had no involvement in the death of Patrick Quinn in Hammersmith Police Station on December 23rd 1990 Malcolm Kennedy has now filed a formal complaint with the European Court of Human Rights alleging that there is no effective remedy to his complaint about ongoing interference with his telephones, mail and email.
The complaint is the first of its
kind to challenge the draconian UK secrecy laws and is unique in that there
are no national security issues surrounding him or his former case.
Kennedy, originally convicted of murdering Patrick Quinn, was released on appeal
in February 1993 and later convicted of manslaughter following two re-trials.
Released in 1996 he has always maintained his innocence and his case has been
sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission for consideration.
He is convinced that those behind what he describes as “harassment” are annoyed at his refusal to admit to playing any role in Patrick Quinn’s death.
Kennedy says that he has been illegally targeted by the Metropolitan Police and National Criminal Intelligence Service and that the interference with his phones has been ongoing since 1997, when following his release from prison he established a small removals company, and it is being carried out using British State interception facilities and that there is nothing in British law that allows for him to be targeted in this way.
Kennedy says that in the run-up to the complaint being filed the interference with his phones was increased, directly hitting his small removals business ‘Small Moves’ by preventing prospective customers contacting him.
“Those behind these illegal
acts were attempting to intimidate me into not filing a complaint with the European
court” he says.
Kennedy has previously complained to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. This
is the main body to complain to about state interference with an individual’s
communications. The tribunal did not up-hold his complaint.
Kennedy says that as a result of his complaint he found himself harassed by the use of material that he disclosed to the Tribunal after it was passed on, as expected, to the respondents, the Metropolitan Police, MI5 and GCHQ.
He also says that anything the respondents had to say was not disclosed to him by the direction of the Tribunal.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal formed under the RIP Act 2000 have never to date upheld a complaint. This follows the precedent set by its predecessor the Interception of Communications Tribunal who never up held a complaint during the 13 years it existed.
Background notes
• Malcolm Kennedy’s conviction for murdering Patrick Quinn in Hammersmith Police Station on December 23rd 1990 was quashed at the Court of Appeal in February 1993. A re-trial was ordered only for this to be halted in September 1993 when an important document that the police had failed to previously locate turned up. A second re-trial during which the CPS dropped one of the police key witnesses found him guilty of the manslaughter of Patrick Quinn. Kennedy was sent to prison for 9 years.
Kennedy has always maintained his innocence and his case has been sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, who are being asked to consider whether his case should be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
For a full explanation see www.red-star-research.org.uk/rpm/Malcolm Kennedy/malcolm_intro.html
The book ‘Who Killed Patrick Quinn: The Framing of Malcolm Kennedy’
at £5 remains available from RPM Publications, BCM Box 3328, London WC1N
3XX