Evidence on M25 gang 'was seriously flawed'

Evidence that helped to convict three men for the 'M25 gang' crimes in 1990 was seriously flawed, according to a televison programme to be broadcast tonight, writes Rachel Borrill.

The Rev Andrew Morton, a research fellow in computing sciences at Glasgow University, has specialised in analysing patterns of words used in written documents to discover whether material supposedly written by one person has had other material added to it by another person.

In The London Programme tonight Mr Morton claims that a statement by Mark Jobbins, an alleged accomplice, which implicated the gang, was unsafe. 'There is a co-operative effort here, it is no longer the single voice of Mr Jobbins,' he says.

Raphael Rowe, 24, Michael Davis, 26, and Randolph Johnson, 27, all from Sydenham, south-east London, were convicted in March 1990 of murder, robbery, grievous bodily harm and firearm offences. This followed a series of violent attacks in the Surrey area on 15 December 1988, at locations close to the M25. The men have always protested their innocence.

Mr Jobbins was arrested with the three men and taken to Reigate police station. While in his cell he wrote statements which implicated Rowe, Johnson and Davis. The police then recorded him reading these notes. After analysing these statements Mr Morton concluded that the 'greatest discrepancy' was when Mr Jobbins describes how Rowe and Davis acted after the crimes.