Tributes have poured in for Tony Paris, who became a campaigner for justice after being wrongly convicted for the notorious 1988 murder of Lynette White in Cardiff’s docklands.
Paris, who has died aged 65, was one of the “Cardiff Three”, who were jailed in 1990 but cleared two years later at the appeal court. The real murderer, Jeffrey Gafoor, was convicted in 2003.
His daughter, Cassie Parris, said on Monday: “My dad never felt they had justice. Even though they had huge support from the community, they also had a lot of people who believed they were guilty and passed that judgment on.
“The men were were terribly affected and my dad didn’t like being around people and kept himself isolated to family and very close friends.”
She said the time he spent in prison had a lasting impact. “My dad told me he still remembered men hanging themselves and couldn’t believe he was around murderers and paedophiles when he was innocent.”
Announcing her father’s death on Twitter, Cassie Parris said: “I can’t believe I’m writing this. My dad Anthony (Tony) Paris has sadly passed. Anyone who knows me knows my dad is everything to me. It was me and him against the world. I will continue to raise awareness and fight for those who face injustice in his name. I love you dada!”
She also pointed out that Tony Paris had died at the same age as his own father, Arthur Parris, and that Tony had been in jail when Arthur died.
White was stabbed more than 50 times. Paris, Stephen Miller and Yusef Abdullahi were convicted and jailed.
After the three were freed, South Wales police launched a lengthy investigation into the actions of the officers involved.
In 2011, eight former officers were put on trial for “acting corruptly together” to make a case against the three men, with prosecutors claiming their case was “largely the product of the imagination”.
Gafoor was dramatically brought from jail to give evidence during the trial, telling the jury that he alone stabbed White after meeting her “for her services as a prostitute”. He said they got into a row over money, and he felt “terrible” that three men had been wrongly jailed.
However, the trial, the biggest of its kind against British police officers, collapsed amid disclosure issues. Paris later said he felt “robbed” of the chance to see justice done. “I was let down by the system all over again,” he said. Abdullahi died in January 2011, aged 49.
Chas Newkey-Burden, a campaigner and journalist who used to visit Paris in Wormwood Scrubs, London, said: “He always made me laugh, even as my heart broke for his plight. I remember him as a wonderful fireball.”
I'm so sorry for your loss, Cassie. I used to visit your dad in Wormwood Scrubs in the early 1990s. Although he was a short guy he was actually a giant and he always made me laugh, even as my heart broke for his plight. I remember him as a wonderful fireball. Lots of love to you. https://t.co/tAPESGg35o
— Chas Newkey-Burden (@allthatchas) September 12, 2022
Rhys ab Owen, a Plaid Cymru member of the Senedd [the Welsh parliament] for South Wales Central, said: “He championed justice for himself and others. Wales and the world is poorer without him.”
I’m so sorry to hear this snd for your personal lose. He championed justice for himself and others. Wales and the world is poorer without him
— Rhys ab Owen AS/MS (@RhysOwenThomas) September 12, 2022
Duncan Campbell, the Guardian’s former crime correspondent and an expert on the case, said: “Tony Paris, who has been in ill-health for some time, was the victim of one of the most shameful of miscarriages of justice of the last half century.
“At the time of Lynette White’s murder, the only evidence was that a dark-haired, blood-stained white man with cut hands had been seen near her flat shortly after the killing. Paris was one of seven black men arrested. All were tested for blood found at the scene of the murder but with no positive result. Five were charged. Three were convicted in 1990. All were innocent.”
