An expert witness in the case of a vulnerable man convicted of murder wrote to the man’s lawyers raising serious concerns about police conduct in “relentless” interviews, but never received a reply.
Oliver Campbell, 53, who sustained a brain injury as a baby, was subjected to 14 police interviews over three days when he confessed to murder in 1990. His case is being considered by the court of appeal after a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Campbell’s lawyers argue he made a false confession to the shooting of an east London shopkeeper, Baldev Hoondle, while under pressure during police interviews. It was during his 11th interview that Campbell confessed.
Gisli Gudjonsson, a leading clinical psychologist, was asked to assess Campbell before his trial in 1991. Gudjonsson said reviewing tapes and transcripts of police interviews “really concerned me” and that he expressed his concerns in a letter to Campbell’s lawyers alongside his report.
“I was very concerned about the nature of the questioning and I raised my concern in a cover letter about the nature of the interviewing and I somehow thought they would come back to me and ask for a more in-depth assessment on that, but they didn’t.”
Gudjonsson, who has spent more than four decades researching false confessions, said “the cognitive load on [Campbell] was extreme” and that he was “distressed and clearly confused”.
The emeritus professor of forensic psychology at King’s College London has since conducted further assessments of Campbell for the commission.
Gudjonsson described “a relentless questioning” and said that in the 10th police interview Campbell made 104 “no comment” answers but by the 11th interview his “resistance [was] breaking down”.
He said Campbell was “so vulnerable” during the interviews, often without the support of an effective solicitor or appropriate adult, and that there was a “high risk” that he made a false confession. “He was giving the police what he thought they wanted.” He said Campbell was motivated by the hope that they might “stop interrogating him”.
Campbell had an IQ of 73 and scored “abnormally high” for acquiescence, with an “extreme tendency to just, when in doubt, say yes”, Gudjonsson said.
He described one officer’s comments as “seriously problematic”. He added: “I’ve never seen a case with so many comments by an officer about the demeanour.”
The court heard that Campbell’s foster mother had said he made a false confession as a child to protect other children.
Speaking to the Guardian outside court, Campbell said he was finding it “very hard to understand [the hearing] because it’s going through legal stuff”.
Of the outcome he said: “They need to do the right thing, not close their eyes on what’s in front of them.”
When asked how he came to make a confession, he said: “I can’t remember what I said but I think the police went over the top and I think it’s absolutely disgusting what they’ve done.”
A second clinical psychologist, Alison Beck, told the court that the science of forensic psychology had improved since Campbell was convicted. She said psychologists were also more aware of the impact of race on people’s experience of police questioning.
The case was adjourned to a future date as there were still points of law to be addressed by Campbell’s lawyers. It is likely to be several weeks – if not months –before the hearing can conclude as lawyers will be allowed two weeks to make further written submissions before a new date can be found.
