West Midlands Serious Crime Squad: Officers named in disciplinary inquiries

NO OFFICER from the West Midlands Police Serious Crime Squad has been successfully prosecuted.

DC John Perkins. Died in October 1993. Racially abused and attacked George Glen Lewis before forcing him to sign a blank confession. Framed the Bridgewater Four, boasting that his fist was a "truth drug". Perkins was involved in 17 of the 97 cases investigated by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).

DC Graham Leake. Involved in the forged confession that led to conviction of the Bridgewater Four. Confession was described in court as a "vein of corruption and dishonesty" through the case. The convictions were quashed by the High Court in 1997. Now runs a security firm.

DC David Woodley and DC Roger Clifford. Accused of interfering with the course of justice by stealing interview notes in the Michael Bromell case. When charges against the pair were dropped they won libel damages from newspapers and the BBC. In 1992 Bromell won his appeal after the judge was shown documents that indicated there was "a very real possibility" the officers removed notes that could have proved his innocence.

Supt John Brown and DC Colin Abbots. Fined pounds 1,500 for disciplinary offences after PCA inquiry in 1993. Brown, now retired, linked to the plastic bag technique, used in the Treadaway and Twitchell cases.

DC Tony Adams and Det Ch Insp Bob Goodchild. Found guilty of minor disciplinary offences after PCA investigation. Adams found to have not followed correct procedures in relation to payments to an informant.

DS Michael Hornby. Served with the squad for 16 years and was involved in the Birmingham Six and Twitchell inquiries. Retired from the force with diabetes in 1990. Has accused Chris Mullin, the MP and Birmingham Six campaigner, of pursuing a "vendetta" against the squad.

Supt George Reade, DS Colin Morris and DC Terence Woodwiss. All charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in relation to their investigation of the Birmingham Six. The case against the three detectives, all now retired, collapsed when a judge ruled they could not receive a fair trial.

Insp James Price, DC Alan Pickering and Tim Russell. Named, with Supt John Brown (above) in Treadaway case over torture allegations. Decision not to bring charges against them criticised by the High Court.