Murder convictions in Moss Side ‘joint enterprise’ case referred to court of appeal

The convictions of three young black men for murder after a controversial 2017 prosecution under the “joint enterprise” legal doctrine have been referred back to the court of appeal. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said on Wednesday that new evidence submitted on behalf of Durrell Goodall, Reano Walters and Trey Wilson, who were 20, 19 and 19 respectively when they were convicted, undermines a core of the prosecution’s case that they were members of a gang. The CCRC is still considering a similar application from a fourth man, Nathaniel “Jay” Williams, who was 17 when he was also convicted of murder over the same incident. The four were prosecuted after the murder in 2016 of Abdulwahab Hafidah, 18, in the inner city Manchester area of Moss Side. One teenager, Devonte Cantrill, 19, committed the fatal stabbing, but seven defendants were convicted of murder, and four of manslaughter, under the “joint enterprise” law. Lawyers for the men argued in their 2023 application to the CCRC that the “gang narrative” advanced at the trial was based on racist stereotypes of black boys and young men, and that the convictions resulted from “institutional racism” by the police, prosecution and judge. The Greater Manchester police (GMP) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) presented a rap music video and selected images from the defendants’ mobile phones as evidence that they were members of a gang, AO, Active Only. The judge, Sir Peter Openshaw, directed the jury that they could infer gang “membership or allegiance” if a defendant had the rap video on their mobile phone. Joint enterprise holds all participants in a violent incident, however minor their individual actions, equally guilty if they are found to have intentionally “encouraged and assisted” a person to commit the most serious violence. Accusing people involved in an incident of disorder of being gang members can be crucial to establishing a joint enterprise charge, as it alleges that all had a common motive. A series of reviews and academic research has found that black boys and young men are disproportionately portrayed as being in gangs and subjected to joint enterprise prosecutions. The Moss Side defendants were accused of being members of AO and to have collectively killed Hafidah because he was a member of a rival gang who strayed into their area. The rap video, in which some of the defendants participated, was portrayed in the trial, and referred to by Openshaw, as a “gang video”. In 2021, the Guardian reported that the video was recorded at a local youth centre, which was publicly funded, and that GMP supported initiatives there. Young people, including some of the defendants, took part in activities that included being encouraged to make rap music as a constructive activity. No criminal activity such as drug dealing was alleged to have been carried out by the AO gang, five of the 11 convicted had no criminal records and Openshaw said three other teenagers’ minor convictions were not relevant. Most were studying at college and had good character references. The men and their families have always argued they were not in a gang and did not intend that Hafidah be killed. The application to the CCRC, submitted in 2023 by Keir Monteith KC and Darrell Ennis-Gayle of solicitors Hodge Jones and Allen, argued “there was no violent criminal gang by the name of AO”, and that the convictions are a “gross miscarriage of justice” influenced by institutional racism. Lucy Powell, deputy leader of the Labour party, MP for the constituency in which Hafidah was killed, supported the application to the CCRC. She has repeatedly criticised the joint enterprise prosecution, saying that gang narratives “seem to be more effectively deployed against young black men from places like Moss Side where underlying preconceptions and prejudices come into play”. The CCRC said the new evidence and arguments presented on behalf of Goodall, Walters and Wilson “undermine the ‘gang narrative’ relied on by the prosecution at trial”. It said it had determined that: “There is a real possibility the court of appeal will find the fresh evidence materially undermines the prosecution case.” The CCRC chair, Dame Vera Baird KC, said: “This referral highlights the need for safeguards to protect defendants against the risk of unfairness from a too readily adopted gang narrative, based on inappropriate labelling. “It is possible that there are other cases which would benefit from guidance on this issue, where the fear may be that stereotypes can be wrongly introduced as evidence.” Monteith said he hoped the court of appeal would reach a decision by the end of next year at the latest. “The use of joint enterprise laws and gang narratives by the CPS has resulted in too many racist miscarriages of justice,” he said, arguing the system needs urgent reform. “These prosecution tactics are overwhelmingly targeted at young black men and reinforce harmful racial stereotypes that undermine trust in our justice system for racialised and marginalised communities.” Ennis-Gayle said: “The CCRC decision reflects what we have been arguing for five years: that our clients were convicted because of the colour of their skin.” A CPS spokesperson said: “We note today’s CCRC referral and will carefully consider our next steps.” Mary Goodall, Durrell’s mother, said of the CCRC referral: “This is amazing news we have been waiting a long time for. There is still a long way to go for our boys to get justice and for us to get them home, but this is a step in the right direction: they are innocent.”