THREE black men who were jailed for allegedly attempting to rob a corrupt copper nearly 50 years ago had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal today.

Courtney Harriot, Paul Green and Cleveland Davidson, all aged between 17 and 20 at the time, were arrested on the Tube while travelling from Stockwell station, south London, in February 1972.

The trio, now in their late 60s, and three friends, who became known as the Stockwell Six, were put on trial at the Old Bailey, largely on the word of British Transport Police officer Detective Sergeant Derek Ridgewell, who had previously served in the police force of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) under its racist white regime.