Damilola detective calls for change to treatment of witnesses
The head of the serious crime directorate at Scotland Yard has called for witnesses like ‘Bromley’ from the Damilola Taylor trial to be treated more carefully.
Damilola Taylor died in South London, but the subsequent trial of the young boys accused of killing him collapsed when the prosecution’s twelve-year-old witness whose identity is protected, but is referred to as ‘Bromley’, was dismissed by the judge as unreliable.
Detective Superintendent Tony Crofts, who was involved in the Damilola case, spoke to the BBC today, suggesting that witnesses such as Bromley require a new categorisation to reflect their special circumstances.
He described Bromley as a member of a vulnerable ‘underclass’ with cultural values that make it hard for them to behave in a manner that courts normally require. In a further problem he noted that they rarely come forward with information because they grow up with a negative view of the police.
Mr Croft commented: ‘they are extraordinarily vulnerable. They appear on the surface, as she does, to be very challenging, rude, hard, streetwise and mature beyond their years but they don’t actually understand and act in a way that society recognises.’
Police receive a great deal of training to help them to deal with people such as Bromley in a way the reassures them and helps them to give their evidence, and the detective suggested that some barristers and judges should receive the same assistance.
The English legal system is adversarial, and the detective suggested that conventional legal practice might not be suitable for such witnesses. For many vulnerable witnesses courts can now accept alternative forms of submitting evidence such as the use of a mediator.
His call follows the first broadcast interview with Bromley, who spoke of her confusion over the defence barrister’s questioning.
She told the BBC ‘He didn’t give me chance to talk properly. As soon as I’d give him the answer that he wanted he’d stop and ask the next question.’ adding: ‘He stood there and tried to twist my head so that I’d come out with the wrong answer.’
The judge dismissed Bromley as a liar with a fertile imagination, and she has revealed that she attempted suicide as a result of her ordeal.
Mr Croft’s call for changes to the legal system might also be supported by her view of the Judge. She reflected: ‘the judge don’t know, yeah, about girls like me. The judges see girls that go to Sunday schools and stuff like that and I don’t do none of that, so therefore I’m a bad person to him.’
Radio four will broadcast the full interview tonight.
