Their defence lawyers argued that Silcott had been guilty and that to convict the officers would thus

Their defence lawyers argued that Silcott had been guilty, and that to convict the officers would thus be wrong. Yet the belief in his guilt persists.It received a boost when Silcott's two police interrogators successfully fought charges of perverting the course of justice at the Old Bailey in 1994. Last week, at the end of two years in which he has found himself arrested six times, he wrote to Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, and to Sir Paul Condon, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, claiming that the police are making his life and that of his wife intolerable.Delroy, 39, and Sonia, 36, a housing executive who used to work for Dame Shirley Williams in the SDP, have no convictions. Last week Superintendent Ron Hope, the officer in charge of Hornsey, their local police division, said there was "no suggestion" that they were involved in criminal activity; they were "not a target in relation to crime".For whatever reason, the Lindos have been involved in a number of incidents with the police: an officer stopped them as they got out of their BMW, which was legally parked, and followed them into their children's school, the start of a violent incident which ended with them both being dragged in handcuffs into a police van. Silcott's Blakelock conviction was quashed on the basis of scientific tests which showed that his confession, the only evidence against him, was fabricated by the police - tests which the Appeal judges found so convincing that they described Silcott and his co-defendants as "victims of perjury". He believes it is not enough to convince the commission that doubts exist about the murder of Anthony Smith; he feels he must first refight an old battle and convince the commission that, despite the prejudice which still exists, Silcott really did not kill PC Blakelock.It seems extraordinary that this has to be done.

And then, say several witnesses, Smith attacked him with a knife. Smith stabbed first.In sworn statements, this is what the witnesses allege. Their evidence has never been tested by cross-examination, because it has never been heard in court. But in any "ordinary" murder, says Silcott's solicitor, Adrian Clarke, a weight of new testimony such as this would be sufficient to ensure a fresh hearing in the Court of Appeal. There, the judges might order a retrial; they could decide that the case ought to have ranked as manslaughter; they could quash the conviction altogether, or leave it undisturbed.

This, however, is no ordinary case."I am under no illusions," Clarke says. In the days before his death, Smith had picked a fight with one of Silcott's friends from Broadwater Farm: after Silcott intervened, the witnesses say, Smith pledged he would end up dead.It was nearly Christmas, 1984. Silcott was touring the area, giving out cards at parties to drum up business for the sound system he ran with Delroy Lindo, the Galaxy Soul Shuffle The evening was passing uneventfully Then, at 177 Mare Street, Hackney, he ran into Smith Terrified, Silcott says, he borrowed a knife He tried to slip out without being noticed He failed. But he did so, he claims, in self-defence, acting in mortal fear, facing Smith and two of his cronies, against the background of a vendetta. Nine new witnesses, who never gave evidence at his trial, now support his story.They say that Smith was the leader of a criminal gang, the Yankee Posse, which was terrorising black north London. And they think they may know why.Without Delroy Lindo, most of the dossier now being weighed by the Criminal Cases Commission would not exist.

Soon after the dossier was submitted at the end of 1995 the police were asked to make further inquiries into its contents. They have known since then the name of the amateur detective who traced the people who saw what happened 14 years ago when Anthony Smith was stabbed: Delroy Lindo."A lot of police officers still believe Winston killed PC Blakelock, that his appeal was just a technicality," Lindo says. "They cannot bear to think that if he wins an appeal against his second conviction, he would finally be free."WINSTON SILCOTT wears another piece of evidence across the bridge of his nose: a thin, fading scar, the residue, he says, of a knife wielded by Anthony Smith He admits that he killed him. Most of the counts against him have been public order charges, relating to his alleged behaviour when he was stopped and arrested.