THREE MEN who were wrongly convicted of assualt and attempted theft on the evidence of a corrupt officer more than 50 years ago have had their convictions quashed.

Winston Trew, Sterling Christie, George Griffiths and Constantine Boucher were found guilty in 1972 of assaulting a police officer and attempting to steal, Christie was also convicted of the theft of a police woman’s handbag.

They became known as the Oval Four because they were arrested by undercover officers at Oval underground station.

Three of the men spent eight months in prison, while Griffiths was sent to a youth detention centre, after they were convicted as a result of evidence given by Det Sgt Derek Ridgewell, who led the investigation.

Today, Trew, Christie, both 69, and Griffiths, 67, had their convictions quashed. Boucher’s conviction has not been quashed as the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which applied to the Court of Appeal to overturn the convictions, has not been able to trace him.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice earlier, Trew encouraged those who were on the receiving end of wrongful convictions as a result of Ridgewell’s evidence to pursue justice and contact the CCRC.

“If you are innocent, don’t give up,” Trew said.

CCRC chairman Helen Pitcher said: “We are delighted for Mr Trew, Mr Christie and Mr Griffiths and pleased that the Court agreed with our assessment that the misconduct of DS Ridgewell rendered their convictions unsafe.”

Pitcher added: “The CCRC sought out these cases after we sent the conviction of Stephen Simmons for appeal last year based on the misconduct of the same police officer. His conviction was also quashed.

“The passage of time has meant that few if any records survive to help us understand how many similar cases there may be. The CCRC would be very glad to hear from anyone who believes they were wrongly convicted where DS Ridgewell was involved.”

Ridgewell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal in 1980 and was sentenced to seven years’ in jail. His conviction, new evidence surrounding his conduct and integrity and the commission’s work on Simmons’ case key paved the way for the convictions to be quashed.

Ridgewell died in prison in 1982, aged 37.

The men were aged between 19 and 23 when they were arrested.

Trew, along with the others, unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction at the time. After his release he made a complaint to the police and always maintained his innocence.

In 2010 he wrote about the experience in his book Black for a Cause…Not Just Because…

Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett, expressed regret that the men had to wait so long for the “injustice to be remedied”.