Crown Prosecution Service statement on convictions of Kamel Bourgass

13/04/2005

On April 8 2005, after a seven month trial, a jury at the Old Bailey found Kamel Bourgass guilty of conspiring to commit a public nuisance by the use of poisons and/or explosives to cause disruption, fear or injury.

At an earlier separate trial in 2004, Bourgass was also convicted of the murder of policeman DC Stephen Oake, the attempted murder of two of his Greater Manchester Police colleagues and the wounding of a third officer. This occurred during the arrests of Bourgass and others in a flat in Manchester in January 2003, when Bourgass made a determined attempt to escape following the discovery of his flat in London and the exposure of the conspiracy a week earlier.

Because Kamel Bourgass was the principal figure in the conspiracy, and therefore central to the three trials scheduled to take place in 2004 and 2005, proceedings to date have been the subject of reporting restrictions in order to protect later juries from any unfair prejudice.

Both cases were worked on by senior lawyers from the CPS experienced in these matters. For the murder, the CPS worked closely with Greater Manchester Police. The conspiracy trial involved a painstaking and international investigation by Scotland Yard's Anti Terrorist Branch. Throughout, the CPS engaged distinguished and experienced counsel.

Right from the start, the dedicated professionalism and co-operation of all those involved was an example of how different agencies can work together to bring about justice.

Finally, today as before, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Stephen Oake. He was clearly a dedicated policeman and family man. In January 2003 he was cruelly and brutally murdered while doing his job and protecting others. The family's humanity, compassion and support throughout an extremely difficult and complex case is something all those at the CPS who met them will long remember.

Notes to Editors

Media enquiries to CPS Press Office on 020 7710 6088.