Two dozen people attended a meeting on 31st May to highlight the plight of working class prisoner Ray Gilbert. Ray has been in jail for over 21 years for a crime he didn't commit. Consistent with the often-voiced criticism from the Mark Barnsley campaign, there wasn't an anarchist in sight save me.

Believe it or not, a cop came to the meeting. But her presence was predictably negative and only served to exacerbate the injustice done to Ray. It was the cops, after all, who contrived to set up Ray and John Kamara in the first place, following the killing of a Liverpool bookie in the aftermath of the 1981 Toxteth riots. John was exonerated after 19 years inside. Policing is a business like anything else, and has to show a dividend. Working class people like Ray Gilbert and Mark Barnsley are the unfortunates on whom the cops prey for their statistical "success".

The usual array of local MPs who'd promised to be there didn't show, but credit where it's due - Bruce Kent, the priestly CND veteran, spoke at length, very convincingly, on what was an extremely difficult set of circumstances to negotiate. As he said, neither Ray nor John could have been prosecuted successfully today. But two decades ago it was different, and Ray still languishes behind bars as a result of that police failure and haphazard investigation.

Solicitors are planning to lodge a fresh appeal on Ray's behalf with the Criminal Cases Review Commission later in the year. As an immediate priority, though, supporters are asked to lobby through the usual channels (MPs, the Home Office and so on) to have him moved closer to home on compassionate grounds, on account of the poor health of close family members and their difficulty in travelling to Buckinghamshire to visit him. A few people are also trying to form a working group to campaign on his behalf.

FD



Ray always needs stamps and contributions towards his photocopying costs. Write to him:

Ray Gilbert
H10111
HMP Woodhill
HU6A CSC
Tattenhoe Street
Milton Keynes
MK4 4DA