Key facts
- Lawyers for the 'Birmingham Four' are seeking to reopen their terror offense convictions.
- The men were convicted 10 years ago following a covert police operation.
- Their legal team alleges evidence was planted by an undercover officer.
- The undercover policing inquiry's findings are being used to support the application to the CCRC.
- Previous appeals against conviction have been rejected by the courts.
Lawyers for four men convicted of terror offenses a decade ago are increasingly hopeful that revelations from the ongoing undercover policing inquiry could lead to their case being reopened. Khobaib Hussain, Naweed Ali, Mohibur Rahman, and Tahir Aziz, collectively known as the 'Birmingham Four', were convicted of plotting a terrorist attack after a covert police operation.
Their legal team has long alleged that an undercover officer, operating under the alias 'Vincent', planted evidence, including a partially constructed pipe bomb and a suspected handgun, in Naweed Ali's car. This claim was rejected by the officer during the trial and dismissed by the jury.
An application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was submitted in 2024, with further information, including evidence from the undercover policing inquiry, provided earlier this year. The inquiry is examining the conduct of undercover officers who spied on over 1,000 political groups between 1968 and 2010. Lawyer Gareth Peirce highlighted parallels between the Birmingham Four case and another incident where an undercover officer allegedly fabricated evidence.
Advocates, including Mariam Hussain, sister of Khobaib Hussain, and organizations like Cage, have called for the CCRC to immediately review and reopen the case, citing a lack of regular updates and a need for the commission to actively investigate. Stephen Kamlish, who represented Ali, stated his belief in the defendants' innocence, pointing to Ali having willingly given his car keys to 'Vincent'.
A CCRC spokesperson confirmed that a review of the applications is ongoing. West Midlands police maintained that the four men were unanimously found guilty by a jury in 2017, and subsequent appeals in 2018 were rejected, with judges citing overwhelming evidence and upholding the jury's verdicts.