Case witness names sent in error

A client of Lynette White was convicted of stabbing her more than 50 times

The personal details of prosecution witnesses in a miscarriage of justice case against 13 police officers have been sent to defence lawyers in error.

The officers are accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the inquiry into the death of Cardiff prostitute Lynette White in 1988.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said a mistake had been made but procedures had been tightened up.

Defence lawyers said it raised concerns about the care being taken in the case.

Ms White, 20, was found stabbed to death in a flat in the docks area of Cardiff on Valentine's Day in 1988.

Three men - Stephen Miller, Yusef Abdullahi and Tony Paris - were convicted of her murder in what became one of Britain's most notorious miscarriages of justice.

In 1992 the convictions of the three jailed men were quashed and they were freed.

Obviously we shouldn't have that information, which makes us defence solicitors think about how much care and attention they are giving the case if they can make such a basic error Stephen Clarke, solicitor

Two other men - cousins Ronnie and John Actie - were also charged with murder along with Mr Miller, Mr Abdullahi and Mr Paris, but they were acquitted at the trial at Swansea Crown Court in 1990.

In 2003, Jeffrey Gafoor, a client of Ms White, admitted her murder in 2003 and is serving a life sentence.

In March this year, 15 people were charged after lawyers for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reviewed evidence gathered by South Wales Police's re-investigation into the original Lynette White police investigation.

'Hard drive'

Defence teams for 13 of those charged, serving and former police officers, said they should not have been sent personal details of prosecution witnesses in the trial.

Stephen Clarke, who represents a number of defendants, said: "About 10 to 14 days ago, we were served with a hard drive which consists of the first tranche of evidence going to be used in the case by the CPS.

"On this hard drive were addresses and personal information relating to some of the witnesses.

"Normally that would be deleted if it was served on us in a hard copy, but somebody has forgotten to do that. They are trying to conduct the case electronically rather than on paper, which is a relatively new exercise.

"Obviously we shouldn't have that information, which makes us defence solicitors think about how much care and attention they are giving the case if they can make such a basic error.

"It won't affect any trial as it's only gone as far as the lawyers, but the issue is they shouldn't have made that sort of mistake."

'Explanatory letter'

In a joint statement, the CPS and South Wales Police said an "error occurred during the electronic transfer of scanned documents.

It read: "Unedited documents containing the personal details of witnesses were transferred to a hard drive that was being used to share evidence between the prosecution and the defence.

"The details are now being recovered. Processes have been reviewed to ensure this does not happen again.

"All those affected by the disclosure have been contacted in person by police officers and provided with an explanatory letter setting out what has happened.

"They have also been provided with police contact details should they have any concerns for their welfare."

A trial is expected to take place either next year or in 2011.