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The British Transport Police has launched a university law scholarship for Black students following a campaign of terror by one of its detectives who framed innocent Black men during the 1970s.
The grant forms part of the police’s attempts to make amends for BTP DS Derek Ridgewell’s actions, who targeted Black people and falsified evidence against them which resulted in their imprisonment for crimes they had not committed.
This collaboration with the prestigious King’s College London is geared toward providing “more equitable outcomes within the justice system” for Black communities.
The bursary, named the Aya Scholarship, is from the university’s Dickson Poon School of Law.
It follows years-long campaigning by community activists, namely a group of organisations known as BTWSC/African Histories Revisited.
“On behalf of all those from the British African community who supported our campaign, I’m glad that the Aya Scholarship can now be announced,” Kwaku, history consultant and community activist said.
“Whilst it may be a small step, it is certainly in the right direction in recognising a wrong suffered by DS Ridgewell’s victims.
The successful applicant will be afforded the opportunity to study a full-time undergraduate LLB Law degree at King’s College which will cover full tuition fees and living costs.
Worth £75,000, the scholarship will last three years and the student will receive three yearly payments of £25,000, covering both tuition fees of £9,250 and a bursary of £15,750.
“This bursary, funded by the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), aims to ensure that British African communities are better represented within the UK judicial system, which will benefit us all,” BTP Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi told The Independent two years ago, ahead of the scholarship’s launch.
“BTP recognises the impact of DS Ridgewell’s actions, and this scholarship is only part of the work we are doing to shine a spotlight on the past and ensure no further miscarriages of justice take place,” Chief Constable D’Orsi said following the award’s unveiling.
“What DS Ridgewell did was indefensible and does not define the BTP I know today, which is enriched by highly professional, kind and committed officers and staff who are passionate about protecting the public.”
The “Oval Four” and “Stockwell Six” were among DS Ridgewell’s victims, as well as the “Waterloo Four” and the “Tottenham Court Road Two”, all of which drew their names from the train stations at which they were arrested.
The Oval Four - Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine “Omar” Boucher - were formally cleared of charges in 2019, almost 50 years after they were first arrested and then wrongly accused of theft and assault.
The operation was led by DS Ridgewell, who was also the key prosecution witness, but was later jailed for conspiracy to steal in 1980 and died in prison, aged 37.
After the Oval Four’s convictions were quashed, Jenny Wiltshire, a solicitor who represented Mr Boucher, accused the government and police of failing to act sooner: “While it is happy news that Mr Boucher’s conviction has now been quashed, the fact that it has taken so long is very concerning.
“The British Transport Police and the Home Office have known about the police officer’s corruption for decades. Yet they have done little to right his wrongs.
“The BTP could have re-examined his cases then but they didn’t. They instead left it to his victims to try and work out for themselves exactly how they had been set up, and to gather the evidence they needed to prove their innocence.
“In my view, the BTP should now conduct a wholesale review of all this officer’s cases. It seems to me very likely that there may be many other victims of his corruption.”
Applications for the Aya Scholarship 2024/25 academic year are now open with a closing date of 31 July.
The word ‘Aya’ is translated as ‘fern’ in the Twi language of Ghana, and is symbolic of endurance, independence, defiance against difficulties, hardiness, perseverance, and resourcefulness.
