http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4280593
Police came up against a wall of silence in their investigation of the drive-by killings in Birmingham, the man who led the murder inquiry said today.
The deaths of teenagers Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare at a New Year party in Aston in 2003 shook the nation and left a community devastated, said Detective Superintendent David Mirfield.
But a culture of fear surrounding gangs existed in that community in which no one would risk talking to police, he said.
This meant the hunt for the girls killers became the longest and most difficult investigation by West Midlands Police in recent times.
Even after witnesses had been arrested, he said, they would only enter the witness box with an unprecedented level of protection.
Today, Mr Mirfield called for better treatment of witnesses in such cases and more stringent controls on the type of activated weapon used in the shootings.
And he praised the two girls injured in the attack Cheryl Shaw and Charlenes twin sister Sophia who gave evidence during the trial at Leicester Crown Court.
He said they were beacons for a black community which had been scarred by gangsters.
Mr Mirfield said: This has been immensely difficult from the outset. This has been one of the largest criminal investigations that the West Midlands police force has undertaken.
The crimes themselves were abhorrent and shook the nation. That meant that the pressure from all angles was extreme.
The people we were dealing with, the gangsters, the way in which they live their lives, makes any such investigation extremely difficult.
They try and rule with fear and intimidation. It is a culture, as we have heard in the trial, in which no-one talks to the police come what may. Anybody who does is considered an informant or a grass.
Mr Mirfield said the gangs felt and still feel like untouchables because of the fear they instilled in other people.
These people only move forward by having this fear element surrounding everything they do, he said.
Its indoctrinated into the young men we are talking about the black community in the main and they are a huge scar on that community.
Everything they do, from trying to recruit youngsters at school all the way through, with fear, intimidation and promises of a better future, only goes to undermine everything that the black community leaders attempt to do in their community.
The sooner this scourge is wiped out, the better.
Special measures in which witnesses were granted anonymity with screens, voice distortion and pseudonyms had been unique in providing a fair trial, he said.
But the officer criticised defence counsel in the case for their opposition to the measures and cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, who had become reluctant to give evidence as the trial neared.
He continued: The biggest challenge for me has been the care and protection of witnesses, affording them the respect they deserve when giving evidence in court.
We need, as an organisation, to treat them with respect and care when they initially come forward and not make any false promises.
We are also right in being able to look towards the justice system as a whole to look after and care for these witnesses when they do give evidence in court.
At times, when these witnesses have given evidence, their treatment has not necessarily been caring. People dont seem to be able to take into account the sheer terror of giving evidence.
He said he was unable to put a figure on the number of young men who were members of gangs in Birmingham or the number of victims killed in gang-related crimes there.
He said he was optimistic the influence of gangs in Birmingham had diminished since the incident in Aston, but warned against complacency.
Pointing to figures which show the number of gang-related shootings in the West Midlands Force area has fallen from an average of 50 a year to 30, he said: I would like to think that this has been prompted by this investigation and the way we conduct our operations against gun crime and the gangs.
The community should feel safer but thats not being complacent. There are still shootings and we need to do everything we can to make the community as safe as possible.
Intelligence-led policing was the way forward in combating the gangs, he said, to ensure the gang leaders are brought to justice and put in prison for a very long time.
Mr Mirfield said West Midlands Police was prepared for any repercussions after the verdicts and said more arrests could be made based on evidence heard during the trial.
I have always said, and it has always been the prosecutions case, that there have been more people involved in this shooting, he said. I am not ruling out any further charges.
And he added: My wish and vision is that the names Johnsons and Burgers become dirty words that no one wants to associate with.
Mr Mirfield also called for a crackdown on the manufacture of weapons, such as one of those used in the Aston shootings.
The MAC-10 machine gun had probably been constructed in the south of England, he said.
The use of an older weapon in the attack, a World War II pistol, suggested that, with the help of amnesties, other guns were not as readily available on the street as commonly thought.
Mr Mirfield said the families of the victims had been left devastated by the girls deaths.
Whatever the outcome, there are no winners, only losers, and they are the mums of the girls, the girls sisters and the close friends of the family, he said.
They are devastated, their lives will never be the same. They have to wake up every morning, getting on with their lives, without their daughters. I know Bev and Marcia live that constantly.
Mr Mirfield said he was pleased that evidence given in the trial proved Charlene and Letisha had nothing to do with gangs or the shootings.
He added: They were out on what was one of their first nights out together young 17, 18-year-old girls who were quite immature.
They were young girls who were dressing up for the night, terrific girls going through college with their whole life ahead of them. Thats now ended.
Whatever happens, we should never forget that.
The officer said witnesses who gave evidence in the case, including the key witness Mark Brown, would get as much protection as they needed for as long as they needed it.
Asked why the shootings were so shocking, he said: You have a situation where three weapons are used, a sub-machine gun to name but one, and dozens of rounds were fired indiscriminately at a New Year party.
Four young innocent girls were shot and two were killed. At the time it was thought that all four may have died.
If that does not wake up a community, and a nation, then nothing can.
...Maybe you should do a little research on the subject before deciding to weigh in next time. That way, you won't look so "delusional" in light of the FACTS.
