Dozens of prisoners and their families are going on a 48-hour hunger strike as part of their campaigns to prove they are victims of miscarriages of justice.

Eddie Gilfoyle, who is in Wakefield Prison serving life for the murder of his pregnant wife, is among more than 80 prisoners who is refusing food from midday on Thursday. He claims his wife committed suicide.

Winston Silcott, serving life for the murder of a boxer

He is being joined by prisoners at 24 jails across the country, including Winston Silcott, who was cleared of murdering PC Keith Blakelock in the Broadwater Farm riots but is still serving a life sentence for another murder, and two of the so-called M25 gang, Raphael Rowe and Michael Davis, who were convicted of murders and robberies.

The protest is being co-ordinated by the Action Against Injustice campaign.

National Co-ordinator, Chris Moore, said: "The hunger strike is designed to highlight the appalling corruption in the British legal system today."

The Criminal Cases Review Commission was set up in January this year to consider alleged miscarriages of justice. It has already received 1,029 cases, and five more arrive every day.

The CCRC said in a statement it was "deeply sympathetic" towards victims of injustice and has offered to arrange a meeting with the campaign organisers.

Only five cases have made it to the Court of Appeal

The commission says it is actively working on 269 cases, five have been referred to the Couth of Appeal, and nine have been rejected.

But Action Against Injustice says the review commission works too slowly and it will take until the end of the next millenium just to deal with the cases already submitted.

That claim is rejected by the commission. Spokesman Karamjit Singh said each case must be properly investigated.

"It's our intention to be working through our cases as quickly as possible, but it's important we do this as thoroughly as possible."
 
Tim Harris, Action Against Injustice, explains the hunger strike

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