`M25 Three' wait for result of appeal

A GANG dubbed "the M25 Three" after their convictions for a murder and series of robberies around London's orbital the motorway must wait to see if their Court of Appeal application to be freed on bail has been successful.

Mr Justice Smedley, sitting in London, yesterday reserved his decision until 5 July after hearing submissions in private from lawyers on behalf of Michael Davis, Randolph Johnson and Raphael Rowe.

The men have had their case referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body responsible for the review of suspected miscarriages of justice. They were jailed for life in 1990, but have always protested their innocence.

The men were jailed at the Old Bailey for a series of attacks on one night in December 1988, including the murder of Peter Hurburgh, who was dragged from his car at gunpoint, tied up and beaten. The attack led to Mr Hurburgh having a fatal heart attack. On the same night, three men wearing balaclavas and armed with a machete and a gun went on a violent crime spree in areas adjacent to the M25.

One of the victims of the attacks said two white men and one black man were involved. The three appellants are black.

The case against the appellants was based almost entirely on the evidence of three suspects who turned prosecution witnesses.