While the Black Lives Matter movement pushed this topic towards the forefront of public debate in Wales during 2020, the issue of race and the justice system has been a topic of great controversy and soul searching for as long as I can remember.
While a lot of the focus here tends to be on the United States – which has a long and bloody history of police brutality and racism going hand in hand with each other – it’s worth considering what’s happening here in more detail.
The following high profile cases in Wales – some more recent, some historic – have been picked out as possible examples of institutional racism and/or a lack of due care towards people of colour by the justice system.
That shouldn’t be interpreted as insinuating the police, courts or anyone else involved are racist. Also, except in the few historical cases I can’t comment on anything that may be part of an ongoing investigation. The aim here is to lay out what happened as we know it so far, as well as the point of grievance.
Mahmood Hussein Mattan (1952)
The Somali-born merchant seaman was arrested for the murder of Butetown shopkeeper and moneylender, Lily Volpert. Witnesses gave contradicting statements, while Mahmood failed to be picked out in an identity parade by at least four different people. There was no forensic evidence linking him to the crime either. At his trial, his defence barrister described him as a “semi-civilised savage” – completely undermining his case – and he was denied an interpreter.
Mahmood Mattan was found guilty and sentenced to death, becoming one of the last men hanged in Wales. Mahmood’s family continued to argue his innocence after his execution. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the case was reviewed and in 1998, Mahmood Mattan’s conviction was quashed based on a flawed investigation. The Mattan family were awarded £1.4million in compensation.
“The Cardiff Three” (1988-1992)
One of the more well-known miscarriages of justice in Welsh legal history. Five men from black and mixed-race backgrounds were charged with the murder of Lynette White. Three of those men – Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller – were eventually found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The conviction was unsound from the start. There was very little evidence linking the men to the crime scene. Witnesses were unreliable and some were eventually convicted of perjury. Also, a confession had seemingly been bullied out of Stephen Miller (who had learning disabilities and turned out to have an alibi) by police officers. The tape of that confession formed part of the appeal – backed by civil rights campaigners – which was successful. All three were released from prison in 1992.
A trial into corruption by officers and detectives involved in the case collapsed in 2011 after key evidence was said to have been destroyed “by human error” (though some files were later rediscovered). The officers brought a civil case to court for malicious prosecution and reputational damage but lost in 2016.
The real murderer – Jeffrey Gafoor – was found following advancements in forensic science and an admission of guilt. He was convicted in 2003 and was recently denied parole for the third time.
Christopher Kapessa (2019)
In July 2019, 13-year-old Christopher Kapessa fell into the River Cynon near Mountain Ash. While he was later recovered from the river by emergency services he subsequently died.
It emerged that Christopher was pushed into the river by a 14-year-old boy. In 2020, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) concluded that while there was enough evidence to press for a manslaughter charge, it wasn’t deemed to be in the public interest as they believed it was “a prank gone wrong”.
Christopher’s family requested a review by another prosecutor but the decision was upheld. The reason why a prosecution wasn’t deemed to be in the public interest seems to rest on the “good character” of the 14-year-old, their age and the possible negative impact on their life chances if prosecuted.
While the CPS and South Wales Police concluded there was no evidence of a racist motive, the Kapessa family believes the situation would have been handled differently if Christopher was white. On June 10th 2021, a judicial review into the CPS’ decision not to prosecute was permitted by the High Court. (Update: 25/01/22 – The High Court upheld the CPS’s decision not to prosecute.)
Siyanda Mngaza (2019-2020)
While staying at a caravan park near Ystradgynlais in 2019, Siyanda Mngaza was reportedly subjected to a racially motivated assault by three other people. She then hit a woman on the head with a cocktail glass which resulted in a serious facial injury.
Following a trial at Swansea Crown Court in March 2020, she was found guilty of GBH and jailed for four and a half years. Dyfed Powys Police admitted in court that they didn’t investigate the possible racist angle, which could have served as a mitigating factor (and possibly resulted in a shorter sentence). There’s an organised campaign to get the conviction overturned, though the Court of Appeal rejected an application for appeal in March 2021.
Deaths of Moyied Bashir (Newport) & Mohamud Hassan (Cardiff) in/following police custody (2021)
Moyied Bashir died after being restrained by Gwent Police officers following concerns about his mental health and wellbeing. Mohamud Hassan died a day after being released without charge by South Wales Police following an arrest for suspected breach of the peace.
Both deaths resulted in protests outside police stations in Newport and Cardiff respectively and both cases are still being investigated. In the Mohamud Hassan case, as of posting six serving police officers were being investigated for possible misconduct. Bodycam footage from the Moyied Bashir case has been submitted to the police complaints commissioner. There has been particular criticism over the lack of transparency, with demands for bodycam footage to be released to the public.
