George Davis faces further wait for appeal result

Three Court of Appeal judges hearing George Davis’s conviction challenge, relating to a raid which took place almost 37 years ago, reserved their decision yesterday until a date to be announced.

Davis’s case became part of criminal folklore after he was jailed in 1975 over a raid in April 1974 at the London Electricity Board in Essex.

Davis, now 69, attended all the two-day hearing to hear his QC argue that his Old Bailey convictions for robbery and wounding with intent to resist arrest should be overturned. The QC said evidence to show the convictions are unsafe “has been in the hands of the authorities since at least 1977”.

The convictions have been referred to the court by the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Davis, who lives in London, was originally sentenced in 1975 to 20 years. That year the Court of Appeal rejected a conviction appeal bid, but reduced his sentence to 17 years.

His case attracted widespread attention in the 1970s, with Sham 69 writing a song about him, Roger Daltrey wearing a T-shirt proclaiming his innocence and his name being daubed across railway and road bridges.

Davis’s sentence was remitted by Royal Prerogative and he was released from jail in 1976.

He was arrested again in 1977, then pleaded guilty to involvement in an armed bank robbery in London and was sentenced to 15 years.