Ronald De Souza finally has his conviction quashed after being fitted up more than 50 Years ago aged just 17 by the now notorious corrupt and racist police officer Derek Ridgewell
A man wrongfully convicted of the attempted robbery of a corrupt and racist detective more than 50 years ago has finally been cleared.
Ronald De Souza was 17 when he was arrested with five friends by the now notorious police officer Derek Ridgewell in 1972. Mr De Souza had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal on Thursday after his case was referred to them by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
He was detained for six months following a case investigated by British Transport Police. Mr De Souza, who along with his co-defendants, became known as Stockwell Six, were accused of trying to rob Ridgewell while on a tube train travelling from Brixon, South London.
They were jailed despite telling jurors that officers had lied and subjected them to violence and threats. In his ruling on Thursday, Lord Justice Holroyde said that Mr De Souza, who did not attend court, “bore the burden of his wrongful conviction throughout his adult life”. “We regret this court cannot put right all that he has suffered over more than half a century; however we can and do allow his appeal and quash his convictions,” he said.
The Mirror revealed last week that police are investigating former colleagues of Ridgewell who may have helped him to frame innocent members of the public.
It comes after the convictions of Mr De Souza’s co-defendants Paul Green, Courtney Harriot, Cleveland Davidson and Texo Johnson were quashed in 2021. The sixth member of the so-called Stockwell Six, Everet Mullins, was acquitted because it was shown that his reading ability was not good enough for him to have understood his signed statement, which was written for him by Ridgewell.
Another of Ridgewell’s victims, former British Rail worker Errol Campbell, had his conviction overturned posthumously at the same court. Mr Campbell, who died in 2004, had his convictions for theft and conspiracy to steal from a goods depot in South London quashed at the High Court on Thursday.
In a statement read out by his solicitor, Matt Foot, Mr Campbell’s son, Errol Campbell Jr, said: “The British Transport Police knew that Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell was corrupt, and they let him carry on regardless with what he was doing. My dad always said he was innocent, and today, that’s finally been confirmed, almost 50 years later.
“He came to England in the Windrush generation and worked for years for British Rail. The conviction caused absolute misery to my dad and our family. Due to the shame and disgrace of this conviction, he found it difficult to get employment, so much so that he fled the country. On his return, he became an alcoholic and couldn’t hold down a lollipop man’s job.
“I’m angry that Ridgewell is not alive for this day and that he never went to prison for all the people he fitted up. He never answered for his crimes. I am Errol Campbell’s first son. I look like him. Before this, he was a great family man and looked after us as children, and he was dapper. He was a good man.”
Campbell’s father was found guilty in April 1977 and sentenced to a total of 18 months’ imprisonment at the Old Bailey in relation to thefts from the Bricklayers Arms Goods Depot, where he was a British Rail employee.
The case against him was led by British Transport Police officer Ridgewell. Giving his judgment on Thursday, Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Butcher and Mr Justice Wall, said that it was with “regret” that the court could not undo Mr Campbell’s suffering. He added: “We can however, and do, allow the appeal brought on his behalf, and quash his conviction. We hope that will at least bring some comfort to Mr Campbell’s family who survive.”
DS Ridgewell led the case against Mr Campbell and several others, but along with colleagues DC Douglas Ellis and DC Alan Keeling, later pleaded guilty to stealing from the same goods depot. Mr Campbell unsuccessfully appealed his conviction in 1978. His son submitted an application Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in September 2024, with the help of the charity APPEAL.
Following a review, the CCRC found there was a real possibility that, like the convictions of 11 other people that have been referred to the court, Mr Campbell’s conviction would be quashed, and it referred the conviction in February 2025. In August 2023 the CCRC referred the convictions of Mr Campbell’s co-defendants, Saliah Mehmet and Basil Peterkin, after it tracked down their family members. The convictions were both quashed in January 2024. In 1980, Ridgewell, Ellis and Keeling pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal from the Bricklayers’ Arms Depot.
Ridgewell died in prison aged 37 before he had completed his sentence. In a previous judgment, the court found that their criminal activities between January 1977 and April 1978 resulted in the loss from the depot of goods to the value of about £364,000 “an enormous sum of money at that time”.