Convictions of British Rail Workers Framed by Corrupt Officer Overturned Posthumously

Families of Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin call for automatic review of cases linked to corrupt officers after decades-long fight for justice.

Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin, two British Rail workers wrongfully accused and convicted for conspiracy to steal mail order parcels in 1977, have had their convictions posthumously quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Their convictions were primarily based on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell, a disgraced police officer who was later found guilty of corruption and racism.
Mehmet and Peterkin were accused of theft from the same depot that Ridgewell and two other detectives were found guilty of stealing from in 1980.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) played a significant role in bringing justice to Mehmet and Peterkin. They referred nine cases that relied on Ridgewell’s tainted evidence back to the courts, all of which were subsequently quashed.
The families of Mehmet and Peterkin are calling for a change in law that would mandate an automatic review of cases linked to corrupt officers.