George Davis is still innocent, OK: after 30 years, ex-con back in court to clear name

Sham 69 wrote a song about him, and Roger Daltrey once wore a T-shirt proclaiming his innocence. During the late 1970s, his name was daubed across railway and road bridges and became part of criminal folklore.

Now, 33 years after he was imprisoned for an armed robbery he insists he did not commit, George Davis is preparing to return to court in an attempt to finally establish the innocence proclaimed by those iconic slogans.

In an audacious legal bid to have his case reconsidered by the Court of Appeal, Davis and his legal team have uncovered fresh evidence which they are to submit to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).

Davis, now 66, says he wants to vindicate the many friends and family who mounted the 1970s campaign to free him from prison, only to have their faith betrayed when he was caught red-handed in a second robbery a year later. Speaking publicly for the first time in almost 30 years, Davis revealed how he has moved away from a life of crime and settled down with his second wife, the daughter of a chief inspector, in north London, earning a living working as a driver for a courier company.

But in an exclusive interview with the Independent, Davis revealed how he is often reminded of the campaign and claims he deserves compensation for the two years he spent in prison.

He said: "I want to clear my name for the people who believed in me at the time and for all those who were in the campaign. But also for myself, so that people know that I was telling the truth."

Davis is being assisted by the same barrister who represented him at his 1974 trial. David Whitehouse, then a junior counsel and now a very successful QC, believes there is fresh evidence.

Although Davis was released from prison early on the orders of the then Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, the courts have refused to quash his conviction.

If he succeeds in proving his innocence he may qualify for statutory compensation.

Davis was arrested with three other suspects in April 1974 after he was identified as one of the five men who smashed their way into the London Electricity Board in Ilford. Davis was identified by five police officers, two of whom had been sitting in an unmarked police car outside the bank.

He was also identified by a civilian who had seen a robber running away through the grounds of Dr Barnado's after abandoning a getaway car.

But it emerged that one of the officers who had been shot at during the escape had partly retracted his evidence saying he could not be sure it was Davis he saw. The lady from Dr Barnado's also failed to identify Davis at an ID parade, but later told the court she had been frightened and was sure he was the man she saw.

Davis also had an alibi. He had witnesses to say that he was working as a taxi cab driver, a claim supported by a log book detailing his jobs for that day. Then there were the blood samples found at the scene of the crime, none of which matched any of the four defendants.

At his trial the three co-accused were acquitted but Davis was convicted on two counts and sent to prison for 20 years, later reduced to 17 years on appeal.

One of those who gave evidence on his behalf was Peter Chappell, who had known Davis for 18 months. He saw him on the day of the robbery and had asked his friend if wanted to join him for breakfast but Davis told him that he had to stay in the cab office because he was the only driver on duty. It was Mr Chappell's belief in his friend's innocence that led to one of the most successful justice campaigns in British legal history, which included digging up the cricket pitch at Headingley in August 1975 forcing a postponement of the game between England and Australia. For his part in this crime Chappell was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.

But by then the "Justice for Davis" campaign had done enough to bring the case to the attention of the Home Secretary who, after a police inquiry, decided to release Davis two years into his sentence. It was a highly exceptional decision which Roy Jenkins said he had taken on the exercise of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. But he made it clear that this did not mean Davis was an innocent man.

George's release was celebrated at a huge East End knees-up. But 30 years later Davis says he is still being punished for a crime he did not commit.

"My life and livelihood has been very badly affected by that conviction. Twice I have applied for a London cab licence and twice the police have turned me down." Many campaigners felt betrayed when he was arrested 18 months after his release for robbing the Bank of Cyprus, a crime for which he was released in 1984. In 1987 he was caught during the robbery of a mail train.

He said: "Yes I did them, I pleaded guilty. But I have been a good boy since then and just kept out of trouble."

Rhys Lloyd, a television producer from Boomerang Productions in Cardiff, who has researched the Davis campaign, says that the original case was riddled with flaws. The police investigation was the subject of an inquiry which foundserious flaws in the evidence. This was finally considered by the CCRC in 2001. But the commissioners said that quashing Davis's conviction would require new evidence .

Mr Whitehouse believes his case hinges on two points. He said: "The first is that two (and possibly three) of the robbers were injured in the chase after the robbery - they left bloodstains. These need to be DNA-tested to see if they match anyone on the police database."

He said the second point concerned photographs taken by the police during the robbery. "One was supposed to be of George. There are up-to-date photo-mapping techniques which would help to prove whether it really could be George," he said.