‘Contention upheld’

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 6

‘Contention upheld’

The secretary of the police ; Association, Dr R. A. Moodie, said the ■ High Cowt’s d- - sion meant that quite a. different Commission of Inquiry; had to follow. ! “The Court has upheld our principal contention that the Commission of Inquiry: wrongly directed itself on: the effect of the pardon on! the terms of reference and; that the commission’s inter-: pretation of the pardon as a: certificate of innocence was: incorrect,” he said. ; The commission had now, been directed to hear all; relevant evidence, both the! direct and circumstantial, in-; eluding evidence of motive, I “I believe it will have to! go back over the whole body: of evidence about the cart-' ridge.” ; The commission chair-; man’s contention that Mr' Thomas was innocent be-’

cause he had been pardoned; and therefore could not be; responsible for shell 350 was: wrong. i The Court had upheld police requests that they be permitted to call all evidence available to show that Mr Thomas had been on the' Crewe property on the night I of the murder and had been: responsible for the presence of a shell fired from his rifle! in the flowerbed beside the! louvre windows. ■ “In Arthur Allan Thomas’s mind no doubt he will feel he is being put on trial' again but that is a necessary consequence of the executive having put the pardon before the Commission of Inquiry,” said Dr Moodie. Mr Thomas said. “It. will become a third trial if all the evidence' has to be brought! out as to my whereabouts on the night of the crime. It is a'

waste of taxpayers’ money to hear evidence of mv whereabouts on the night of the crime. It would t?, e weeks. “I think the Commission of Inquiry has been doing its damndest to bring out all the evidence relating to the terms of reference.”