‘No-jury’ quartet await appeal verdict

Four men are still waiting to discover if they have successfully appealed against their ‘no-jury’ convictions for a £1.7million Heathrow warehouse heist.

Court of Appeal judges have reserved judgment at the Old Bailey. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, sitting with Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Roderick Evans, said: “We wish to take time to consider our decision.”

John Twomey, Peter Blake, Barry Hibberd and Glenn Cameron were found guilty in March by a judge at the Old Bailey in relation to an armed robbery in February 2004. They argued their convictions were “unlawful” and “unsafe”. It was the first serious criminal trial to be held without a jury in England and Wales, after three previous attempts to try the case with a jury were aborted, at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £25 million.

At the end of the fourth trial, Mr Justice Treacy passed guilty verdicts on Twomey, 62, of New Milton, Hampshire; Blake, 58, of Notting Hill, west London; Hibberd, 43, of Shepherds Bush, west London; and Cameron, 51, of New Milton, Hampshire. Twomey was sentenced to 20 years and six months. Blake was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years and nine months. Cameron and Hibberd were sentenced to 15 years and 17 years and six months respectively.

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