The Justice Gap Podcast

As one of the leading lawyers who represented Iraqi civilians against abuses at the hands of British soldiers Martyn Day believes that justice is yet to be achieved. He joins Jon Robins to discuss the quiet settlement of compensation claims by the Ministry of Defence and the issues surrounding his work with fellow lawyer Phil Shiner. Dami Ojuri interviews Clive Baldwin of Human Rights Watch to get his take. www.thejusticegap.com

Frances Crook believes ‘politicians are still stuck in the 1950s’ when it comes to our criminal justice system. For 35 years, she has been at the helm of the Howard League for Penal Reform, trying to innovate and change the UK’s approach. Her time in charge is, this month, coming to an end. So in the latest episode of the Justice Gap Podcast, Frances joins Calum McCrae to look back at her time as CEO of the charity, the current state of the penal system in the UK and her hopes for the future.  www.thejusticegap.com

The Grenfell tower fire in summer 2017 was perhaps one of the most devastating events of modern Britain. 72 lives were lost and countless families torn apart by the fire directly. The first stage of the Grenfell inquiry report said the victims paid “a terrible price for a catastrophic failure of industry and Government”. Beyond the fire itself, Grenfell has caused a miserable ripple effect to those living in buildings that shared similar cladding. Cladding we now know accelerated the fire. The Times reported that more than 3 million people are caught up in what’s becoming known as the cladding scandal, with some leaseholders receiving remediation bills higher than the initial cost of their flats. William Martin is one of those affected. He’s a junior doctor, leaseholder and cofounder of the UK Cladding Action Group. He joined Calum to speak about his situation, the ‘end our cladding scandal’ campaign and the Government’s response.  www.thejusticegap.com

Yesterday the convictions of Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson were overturned by the Court of Appeal. They made up half of a group of wrongfully convicted men known as the Stockwell 6. Davidson described the conviction they received in 1972 as a 'total stitch up'. They were accused by the late and now disgraced police officer Derek Ridgewell of attempting to rob him while travelling on the tube from Stockwell station in London. Last year we reported on the Oval 4’s case, a remarkably similar case, with the same corrupt officer at the centre of it. We thought it was timely to repost that story in light of the Court of Appeals decision in the Stockwell 6 case. Winston Trew, a member of the Oval 4, was dogged in his search for the truth about Ridgewell. A campaign which has gone some way to help overturn a number of cases since. So settle in as we revisit the story of the Oval 4.

‘Kill the Bill’ is the rallying cry of a new movement resisting the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Gracie Bradley, interim director of Liberty, discusses this with Lucy Brisbane in the latest episode of the Justice Gap podcast. They examine why resistance to this Bill, and the broader attack on human rights and civil liberties in this moment, is so urgent and vital. www.thejusticegap.com