First of all, before I read the article below, I had no idea what a “Supergrass” was (There’s a definition of Supergrass after the article below).
However, the gist of the story is that informant John Corkish, 46, was hit with a 12-month jail sentence for contempt of court, because he initially refused to rat on Scottish organized crime figures Raymond “Rainbow” Anderson and James McDonald. At the two murderer’s trail, Corkish, scared spitless, originally clammed up, and actually gave false testimony. After being warned by Judge Lord Hardie (I wonder if there is a Judge Lord Laurel in Scotland), Corkish finally spit out the truth and identified Anderson as the killer.
After the guilty verdicts were rendered (The two murderer’s 35-year minimum term sentences were the largest ever handed down in Scotland), for some unknown reason, Judge Hardie sent Corkish immediately to jail for contempt of court, (Corkish did not pass “Go” and collect the customary $200), despite the fact that Corkish’s evidence was the key in the two murderer’s convictions.
Corkish languished in jail for a full 12 months, before three Appeal Court judges ruled Corkish could fly the coop, immediately. The reason for the reversal was because Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told the three judges it could hurt the fight against organized crime if a man ratted someone out, and was sent to jail anyway.
As we speak, Corkish is living somewhere in the Scottish version of the Witness Protection Program, which probably means he’s drinking in some dingy pub, hidden in the mountainous moors of Scotland.
I guess the moral of this story is (at least the Scottish moral of this story), if you’re going to be an informant, once the trial starts, immediately start ratting, put on your track shoes, and don a phony disguise.
Then get the heck out of Dodge City, Scotland.
The article below appeared in the UK Daily Record.
Supergrass freed after top cop says jail term ‘could hinder war on organised crime’
Aug 28 2010 Gordon Mcilwraith
A SUPERGRASS jailed for giving false evidence at a gangland murder trial has been freed – thanks to a police chief’s plea.
John Corkish, 46, was jailed for 12 months for contempt of court – despite later providing crucial evidence which led to the conviction of assassin Raymond “Rainbow” Anderson.
Yesterday, three Appeal Court judges overturned the jail sentence after Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told them it could hurt the fight against organised crime.
Corkish, who had been on bail pending his appeal and is living under a new identity at a secret location, was a key witness at the trial of Anderson, 48, and James McDonald, 36.
The pair, who shot a man dead in cold blood and wounded two others at a garage run by a rival crime clan, are now serving 35-year minimum term life sentences.
At their trial, Corkish, who was living in fear of his life, initially gave false evidence. But after a warning from trial judge Lord Hardie, he identified Anderson.
The judge went on to jail him for contempt, despite his evidence leading to the guilty verdict.
At the Appeal Court in Edinburgh yesterday, the judges said Mr Corrigan’s intervention was the “most powerful consideration” in allowing Corkish to walk free.
Lord Osborne, who heard the appeal with Lords Carloway and Bonomy, said the senior cop had supplied a statement arguing that if the sentence remained, it might deter others from coming forward in similar cases.
He added that Mr Corrigan’s plea was a “matter of great significance in a case in which charges of the most grave and sinister kind were brought to trial”.
Admonishing Corkish, the judges agreed the jail term was inappropriate and excessive.
They also stressed that the prosecution accepted Corkish’s fear for his safety before the trial was justifiable and that his life could still be in jeopardy.
The murder in 2006 at Applerow Motors in Lambhill, Glasgow, was part of a vicious turf war between the Daniel and Lyons crime families.
The gunmen opened fire just minutes after taxis collected pupils from a nearby special needs primary school.
The murdered man, Michael Lyons, 21, was the nephew of Lyons clan chief Eddie Lyons senior.
Steven Lyons, 29, one of the sons of Eddie Lyons, was shot in the leg as he tried to flee.
The third shot man, gangland enforcer Robert Pickett, 44, who had served time for attempted murder, was hit three times.
The hitmen’s 35-year minimum terms are the heaviest handed down in Scotland in modern times.
Supergrass (informer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Supergrass is a slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as “grasses” since the late-1930s, and the “super” prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city’s underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.[1] One of the first police informers to receive the ‘supergrass’ nickname was Bertie Smalls.
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In Northern Ireland, the term “supergrass” especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, possibly in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Sir John Hermon did not deny reports that inducements were paid but denied figures as high as £50,000 were involved.[2] The use of the term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which led to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of more than 4,000 cumulative years in prison, based on Black’s testimonies alone (eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986).[3]
By the end of 1982, 25 more ‘supergrasses’ had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
On 11 April 1983, members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. In October 1983, seven people were convicted on the evidence provided by supergrass Kevin McGrady although the trial judge Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry had described McGrady’s evidence as “bizarre, incredible and contradictory”.[4] The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick. 24 of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986.
Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and the supergrass system was discontinued in 1985.
The term has been used more recently to describe an informant with al-Qaeda links testifying at the trials for seven British men conspiring to cause explosions between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004, and again on 2 July 2007 in an article in the Daily Mail describing a search for informants in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.[5]
The term has also been used by The Royal Gazette, a daily newspaper in Bermuda, a British dependent territory. An article in the paper uses the term to describe a Transport Control Department worker convicted of selling driver’s licenses to Portuguese applicants lacking the necessary English skills to pass the multiple choice exam. The worker was granted a conditional discharge in exchange for information on other Transport Control Department employees abusing the public trust.[6]
One of the most prolific supergrasses in recent British history was Michael Michael whose evidence in 2001 led to 32 criminals being convicted, including his own mother, and the disruption of a £132milllion drugs ring.
Joe Bruno on the Mob 