Student
Mario Pereira was today found guilty at the Old Bailey
of the human torch murder of black musician Michael
Menson.
His co-defendant, unemployed Charalambous Constantinou
was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Both men,
from Edmonton, north London, had denied murdering
Mr Menson, 30, who was found by police on fire, staggering
in a London street on January 28, 1997.
Police at
first failed to treat Mr Menson's death as murder,
believing that he had set fire to himself, the court
had heard.
Mr Menson
died in hospital after suffering terrible burns which
covered 30% of his body.
Case history
By the time
he died in February 1997, Mr Menson had told four
family members and friends from his hospital bed that
he was injured in an attack.
But it took
police nearly two years before they finally agreed
with what the family had always maintained - that
Mr Menson was killed by a violent racist gang.
A criminal
investigation was not launched for 12 hours until
the victim's brother, Kwesi Menson, told police that
Michael had said from his hospital bed that he had
been attacked.
Even after
the area was sealed off, police failed to interview
Mr Menson in hospital before he died on February 13,
the family said.
By that time,
one of the killers, Ozgay Cevat, who had been due
to face trial in Britain over a separate attack, had
fled to the Turkish-run Republic Northern Cyprus,
where he thought he would avoid the reach of justice.
Members of
the Menson family soon realised that all was not well
and were angered when their questions about the course
of the police inquiry were not answered.
Four officers
were spoken to following an internal review and given
advice - but that was not until a year after Mr Menson
died.
Kwesi Menson
said: "We were told initially that they had so
many leads that they didn't need to do any appeals.
That moved to no leads, no information and no-one
else was involved."
Despite taking
hundreds of statements, police continued to say they
did not know if Mr Menson had set fire to himself
or was attacked by a gang.
The inquest
The turning
point in the family's campaign was when an inquest
jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing"
in September 1998.
The Metropolitan
Police issued a statement admitting that serious mistakes
had been made and regretting that for the first 12
hours of the investigation, officers believed that
Mr Menson had set fire to himself.
The force
had also set up an internal inquiry looking into the
actions by four supervising officers - but three of
those concerned had retired or were on the point of
doing so.
After the
inquest the Menson family had a meeting with home
secretary Jack Straw, who was said to be "visibly
moved" by their arguments.
A new
inquiry
The Metropolitan
Police announced a new inquiry. After a flawed initial
investigation, then the failure by a major investigation
team to bring anyone to justice, the case was taken
on by the newly-formed racial and violent crimes taskforce
at Scotland Yard.
Its head,
deputy assistant commissioner John Grieve, said immediately
that Michael Menson's death was a murder.
Detective
chief inspector Kevin Davis took over the inquiry
on December 4 1998 and, with 12 experienced detectives,
looked again at nearly 300 statements and more than
1,500 names which had emerged.
The documents
included an interview with Cevat in Northern Cyprus
- he told officers that he had heard rumours about
what had happened. But Cevat refused to talk to the
officers again.
Crimewatch
The new team
worked towards the high-profile 150th programme of
Crimewatch at the end of January 1999 on which members
of the Menson family appeared. It was the first time
a family had appeared on the show.
Police posted
leaflets around the area of the murder where they
knew the suspects were living to publicise the programme
and to try to ensure that they were watching.
The main
suspect, Mario Pereira, was put under surveillance.
Police believe he met Harry Constantinou and went
back to his flat where they watched the Crimewatch
programme. Covert listening devices were then put
into the flat.
In early
February, the three suspects still in Britain met
and discussed the matter - which convinced police
that they had the right people.
In one recording,
on February 14, Constantinou told Husseyin Abdullah:
"He [Pereira] started saying 'Oh let's do him'
and all that shit, going nigger and all that shit,
so they drove, err, Ozzie got out the car and he tried
to light his jacket, but it didn't work, so they went
back to Mario's house, got some fuel, spirit or something,
went back to him."
Abdullah
said: "You know what that is, do you know what
that is?"
Constantinou
replied: "That's murder."
That same
day police learned of the car used in the murder and
they started a "hearts and minds" campaign,
personally handing letters to those linked with the
suspects to persuade them to come forward and give
vital evidence.
A few days
later, those people were re-interviewed. Two of the
witnesses who eventually gave evidence "cried
their eyes out" when they finally completed their
statements, such was the relief at having unburdened
themselves.
Officers
were forced to move in on March 9 when Constantinou
spotted a video device put into his flat only the
day before - police feared the men might flee the
country.
The Cyprus
campaign
Only after
the arrests did the police attention turn to Cevat
in Northern Cyprus.
Cevat fled
there soon after Mr Menson was attacked and set on
fire in a London street. He was arrested by the authorities
there for an unrelated charge of causing grievous
bodily harm.
While awaiting
trial, the Northern Cyprus authorities became aware
that Cevat was wanted in the UK in connection with
Michael Menson's death.
Britain has
no extradition treaty with Northern Cyprus and no
compulsion on its government to act. But in this case
the authorities decided to co-operate.
A number
of witnesses had come forward in London identifying
Cevat as the third man in the attack on Mr Menson.
It was strong
evidence, which police believed would justify his
arrest had he been in England.
Knowing there
was no way of extraditing him, they entered straight
into negotiations with police in Northern Cyprus to
see if there was another way of bringing him back
to face trial.
The Northern
Cyprus authorities sent a high-ranking police officer
to Britain this year, who informed the British there
was a law in Northern Cyprus by which someone who
commits an offence abroad, and for which he could
be jailed for two years or more, could be tried in
Northern Cyprus.
As a result
senior British officers delivered copies of all their
paperwork to Northern Cyprus in May this year.
The authorities
there thought there was a case and were prepared to
prosecute.
They wanted
to interview witnesses in Britain and sent a team
here to see them. British officers went back to Northern
Cyprus to help prepare the trial.
Thirteen
witnesses - police and civilian - travelled to Northern
Cyprus for the preliminary hearing and 32, including
two members of the Menson family, gave evidence at
the actual trial.
Ironically,
because Northern Cyprus is still a breakaway state,
they had to travel back to the south of the island
each day.
It was the
longest trial ever held in the north and it accounted
for £250,000 of the £1.2 million costs
of the case.
After sustained
high-level discussions and unheard of co-operation
between the two countries, Cevat was arrested and
jailed by authorities in Northern Cyprus for 14 years
for the manslaughter of Michael Menson.
The family
Head of the
racial and violent crimes taskforce at Scotland Yard
John Grieve paid tribute to the Menson family's role
in keeping the case alive. He said: "They have
been entirely steadfast in their determination to
bring those responsible for his murder to justice.
"Their
campaigning role was pivotal and can be seen as a
model for keeping an investigation in the public mind."
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