Protest over Birmingham Six barrister: Protest over choice of barrister in police case

CONCERN is mounting that the barrister who defended police behaviour during the successful appeal of the Birmingham Six has been appointed to prosecute officers in the case, writes Heather Mills.

Chris Mullin, the Labour MP who was largely responsible for exposing the injustice which kept the Six in prison for 16 years, has protested to the Attorney General at the decision to appoint Graham Boal to present the Crown case against three former West Midlands detectives.

During the Six's 1991 appeal, Mr Boal had argued that despite the collapse of the two main pillars of the case - confessions and forensic science - their convictions should be upheld. Now he is to accuse George Reade, a former detective superintendent, Colin Morris, a former detective sergeant, and Terence Woodwiss, a former detective constable, of perjury and conspiracy in connection with an interview with one of Six.

Yesterday, Mr Mullin told Sir Nicholas Lyell, the Attorney General, thatwhile he did not allege impropriety on Mr Boal's part, 'in the light of his previous role he is bound to be vulnerable to accusations that his heart is not entirely in the prosecution'.