The Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred to the Court of Appeal the convictions of four men for importing heroin from Pakistan into the UK.
Khalid Latif and Mohammed Shahzad were convicted of the importation of class A drugs at Southwark Crown Court on 8 March 1991. Mr Latif was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Mr Shahzad was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mohammed Osman was convicted of the importation of class A drugs at the Inner London Crown Court on 19 March 1993 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ghulam Rasool was convicted of the importation of class A drugs at Birmingham Crown Court on 6 December 1996 and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The men were convicted after HM Customs & Excise operations. The four men applied to the Commission on dates between April 2001 and May 2003, all submitting that their cases were connected to the Operation Brandfield police inquiry into HMCE cases and other applications made to the Commission.
Having considered a range of issues including the role of participating informants and non-disclosure the Commission has decided to refer the convictions to the Court of Appeal.
The Commission is the independent public body set up by Parliament in 1997 to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to decide if they should be referred to the appeal courts.
All four men are represented by Tasneem Osmani, of T Osmani & Co, 121 Woodlands Avenue, London, E11 3RB, tel 020 8530 1130
|
