The trial (1)

Sam Hallam's trial commenced in September 2005 at London's Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey) before Judge Richard Hone QC. His co-accused were Bullabeck Ringbiong aged 20, Pellum McCook aged 20, Jamie Martin aged  20, his brother Danny Martin aged 18  and four 17 year olds.

At the close of the prosecution case, the trial judge directed that all of the defendants be acquitted on the murder charge except for Bullabeck Ringbiong and Sam Hallam. (later in the trial, Scott White, one of the 17 year olds, was convicted for conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to eight years youth custody). The judge directed the acquittals because the evidence presented against them was so weak in establishing their alleged roles on 11th October 2004 that it would be unsafe to allow it to go before the jury for decision.  

Sam Hallam's counsel, Robert Fortune QC, submitted that the identification evidence against Sam was so flawed by the end of the prosecution case that he had no case to answer. His submission was based on the highly unsatisfactory testimony given by BK and PH at the trial. BK's behaviour and testimony, in particular, was at complete variance with his 20th October 2004 statement in which he had identified Sam as the youth who he first saw on a BMX bike and then "standing over" Essayas Kassahun with a baseball bat. On entering the court, BK was visibly distressed and he even attempted to leave without giving evidence. After swearing on the Koran, he was heard to say that he had to tell the truth about Sam. He was questioned by defence counsel about the white youth he had seen on a BMX bike:

"Did you know him?"

"No"

"Describe him"

"On a bike wearing a hood... I didn't really look at his face"

BK admitted that Sam Hallam was "the only white boy I know from Hoxton, so I said it was Sam". Questioned about the contradictions between his first and second written statements, he said that when he made his second (20th October) statement, he had been upset because his friend Essayas had died. He had mentioned Sam Hallam's name because PH had suggested it to him. He confirmed that he could not recognise the boy in question because his hood was tied up tightly so as to obscure most of his face. He did, however, state that this boy was wearing a "Gap jumper. In light of BK's testimony, the prosecution applied successfully to the judge that he should be treated as a 'hostile witness' i.e. although he was called as a prosecution witness, he should now be regarded as appearing for the defence and cross-examined as such.     

 Giving evidence at the trial, PH was challenged as the accuracy of her identification of Sam Hallam to which she replied "I saw someone who looked like him. If it wasn't him, I saw someone who looked like him". She also stated that the person she saw was not holding any weapon. Toward the end of cross-examination, she said "I saw someone that looked like him running towards me and when I... was talking to people, they told me it was a Sam and then someone told me it was a Sam Hallam and [her friend] pointed him out to me". It was then put to her that "the most you can say is that it is someone who looked like him?"  to which she said "yes".

 Investigating police officers seem to have made no effort to ascertain the identities of the persons who allegedly told PH that a 'Sam' and then 'Sam Hallam' was involved in Essayas' murder. On the face of it, these persons (if they existed) possessed highly material information about one of the murderers. It is remarkable, therefore, that the Operation Yocum team apparently exhibited no  curiosity about the basis and origin of  the rumour that a 'Sam' was involved. 

 PH was further questioned at trial as follows:

 "But you certainly could not say you are sure it was him, could you?"

"No"

 In re-examination by the prosecution, PH testified that she had "just sort of recognised the weird-looking features of his face". In police interviews, she described Sam Hallam as having "a really weird-looking face... as if there was something wrong with him... possibly disabled".  While any such assessment must inevitably have been subjective on PH's part, it should be noted that Sam Hallam does not have any physical or mental impairment. Asked by the prosecution whether she had any doubts about the man she saw with her friend on 13th October, she said "No - I was just looking for someone to blame on the spot really"  (as previously mentioned, PH was a former girlfriend of the murder victim, Essayas Kassahun) /next.