FOR years Robert McEwen has waited to walk the streets a free man and now after nearly four years locked up in various prisons his long wait is finally over. But despite his great relief, the quiet 31-year-old has found his taste of freedom has a bitter tang - for while he is free, his best friend Eon Kennedy is still languishing in Lancaster Castle Prison, for crimes they claim they didn't commit. McEwen of Clark Street in Morecambe and Kennedy were found guilty at Preston Crown Court of conspiracy to rob Little Chef restaurants in Lancashire... 33-year-old Kennedy was also found guilty of armed robbery. From the moment they were arrested outside the Little Chef in Much Hoole the pair have protested their innocence. But the campaign to clear their names, which included McEwen absconding from Risley Prison for six weeks in September 1995, has met with one setback after another. But now he is free Robert has pledged to fight day and night to help get Eon out of prison - if he fails Kennedy will not be freed until six months before the millennium.
"It's a strange feeling being out after all this time I just wish Eon was out as well. Prison isn't a nice place and when you haven't done anything wrong it is very hard to take. The Castle is Draconian and although Eon is pleased I'm out he's suffering in there," explained Robert. The pair had commenced civil proceedings against both Lancashire and Cumbria police forces and these actions have now been taken over by the newly-formed Criminal Case Review Commission which is looking into the cases and has promised to respond in the next few weeks.
The Commission has the power to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal.
Robert admits that it would probably be a lot easier to let sleeping dogs lie and just get on with his life but he has never been one for taking the easy route indeed he could have secured release a year ago if he'd gone cap-in-hand to the Parole Board and confessed to the crime.
"The whole thing is about getting to the truth. What's the point in saying I did it just to make it easier for myself? And to do nothing now would be like admitting we were guilty and that is just not true," he said.
One hurdle facing the pair is money and Robert is scathing of the arbitrary nature of Legal Aid applications.
"I know people inside who applied to get Legal Aid to take actions against the prison authorities because they weren't happy with their prison haircuts and we can't get help to fight for fundamental issues such as the truth!"
For the sceptics who may argue that the pair had their day in court and must face the consequences there are some sobering facts to absorb.
"Since we were sentenced the trial judge has admitted that the police breached PACE regulations and a police inspector also conceded that important facts in the case were withheld from him by other officers," Robert insisted.
It is also true that not one of all the witnesses involved picked out Robert in a police identity parade and that officers breached strict protocol regulations for Eon's ID parade. Despite this they were still convicted.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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