Ronnie from South London was convicted of armed robbery and attempted murder in 1988 after a failed robbery on a supermarket wages van went horribly wrong. A police informant, Seamus Ray, set the job up and duly tipped off the police. As they made their getaway Easterbrook, Tony Ash and their driver Gary Wilson were ambushed by a Police team from PT17, the elite tactical firearms unit. A dramatic shoot-out ensued. Ash was shot dead by a Police marksman and Easterbrook, Wilson and a police inspector all suffered gunshot wounds. The shoot-out was captured by a Thames TV crew.

Easterbrook doesn't dispute his involvement in the robbery. What he doesn't accept though is that the police acted legitimately during the ambush. He says the police shot first and that he believed they were operating the same shoot to kill policy as in Northern Ireland. “A bullet bounced off our getaway car and even though Tony shouted out I give up, I give up, they still shot him dead.” Because of this, he says, he had no choice but to shoot back in self-defence. But he was never allowed to air the shoot-to-kill theory at his trial. Although he wanted his barrister to focus on police tactics as part of his defence the request was refused on the grounds that a political defence was not permitted – the rules have since changed. Easterbrook ended up having to represent himself and as he admits, made a lousy job of it. “I left school at the age of 14. I was totally out of my depth in the trial and didn't have the intellect to put forward a structured defence.” He was also perplexed by the 'whole life' sentence meted out by the judge. His is the only recorded case of such a sentence being imposed on an armed robber in the absence of medical evidence to establish dangerousness. His case even gets a mention in the law bible Archbold as one which is unusual because it does not accord with other known authorities on sentencing.

Ronnie's tariff has been reduced from whole life to 12 and a half years but he says he won't apply for parole because he doesn't recognise the legality of his sentence and that until he gets a new trial justice will not have been done. Now after 20 years in prison (8 years beyond his tariff) and in a last desperate bid to draw attention to his case Ronnie has embarked on what is in effect a death fast if the authorities fail to act.

His case is not one that attracts automatic sympathy, particularly as a self-confessed career criminal, but he has now served well over his recommended tariff. At the age of 78 it is time to let him go home to his family.

What you can do:

Send a postcard or letter of support to Ronnie, this will also let the prison authorities know he is not isolated and people are aware of his situation:

Ronnie Easterbrook (B58459)
HMP Gartree
Gallow Field Road
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7RP

Send a letter to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, urging her to initiate a review of his case:

Jacqui Smith, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Fax: 020 8760 3132
e-mail:  smithjj@parliament.uk


Write to the Governor at HMP Gartree, Susan Howard, expressing your concern over Ronnie's condition:

Susan Howard, Governor
HMP Gartree
Gallow Field Road
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7RP
Tel: 01858 426 600
Fax: 01858 426 601

Write to the people below to say that Ronnie has now spent enough time in prison. He is currently held in a category B prison, as it seems that there is no possibility of him getting a re-trial, at the age of 78 he should at least be moved to an open prison on humanitarian grounds and started on the parole process:

The Parole Board for England and Wales
Grenadier House
99-105 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 2DX
Phone: 0845 251 2220
Fax: 0845 251 2221

Rt Hon David Hanson MP
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3334 3555
Fax: +44 (0)20 3334 4455
 general.queries@justice.gsi.gov.uk


Lord Corbett,
Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Penal Affairs Group
House of Lords,
London
SW1A OPW.
Tel: 020 7219 3420


Simon Creighton, his lawyer, said in 1999, “A public airing of the issues surrounding his case may make the Home Secretary at last feel some disquiet about it and initiate a review. I hope public opinion will recognise how desperate this situation is. I don't think I have ever come across a case where I have met such barriers from the establishment. I find it bizarre that the system would rather see him die without having a proper hearing than afford him the basic human right of legal representation in court. Ronnie is no saint but he does have a right to the same sort of trial and punishment as everyone else”.