British court clears 3 men of attempting to rob police officer in 1972

July 6 (UPI) -- Three Black men who were convicted almost a half-century ago of attempting to rob a London police officer had their convictions overturned on Tuesday by a British appellate court.

The men -- Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson -- were arrested on the London Underground for the attempted robbery in February 1972. They were between the ages of 17 and 20 at the time.

The three, plus three others who would become known as the "Stockwell Six," were put on trial and accused of robbing British Transport Police officer Derek Ridgewell. All six pleaded not guilty and told jurors that police had lied about the crime. All but one was convicted.

They were called the Stockwell Six because the men were arrested while traveling from London's Stockwell station.

Green was sent to juvenile detention, Davidson served six months in jail and Harriot served three years.

In the decades since, however, there have been serious concerns about Ridgewell's credibility -- and the men, now in their sixties, were cleared of the charges on Tuesday.

"It is most unfortunate that it has taken nearly 50 years to rectify the injustice suffered by these appellants," the court wrote.

Ridgewell later spent seven years in prison for theft and died of a heart attack in 1982 at the age of 37.

Tuesday's decision is the third time the Royal Courts of Justice has overturned a conviction due to corruption related to Ridgewell.

"It's vindication that we were innocent at the time," Davidson said, according to The Guardian. "We were only young then, we did nothing. It was a total stitch-up, it was a frame-up for nothing.

"We just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time with a bad, corrupt police officer."