Two Palestinians jailed for their part in the 1994 North Finchley bombing went to the Court of Appeal this week to protest their innocence.

Jawad Botmeh, 31, and Samar Alami, 33, were jailed for 20 years in 1996 for involvement in car bomb attacks at Balfour House and the Israeli embassy. Six people were injured when a fireball ripped through the High Road offices of the Joint Israeli Appeal charity on July 27, 1994.

Botmeh and Alami, both British residents, returned to the High Court on Tuesday to resume their appeal, adjourned a year ago for further enquiries by their defence team.

Both deny any involvement in the attacks and claim vital new evidence makes their conviction unsafe. Supporters, who staged a peaceful protest outside the High Court, say the pair are a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Michael Mansfield QC, their barrister, told the court an "extraordinary catalogue of errors" had led to the non-disclosure of vital evidence to the original trial judge.

"This raises serious concerns about what the court had been shown and what has, or has not, been asked in relation to the material," he said.

It emerged during the original appeal hearing that MI5 and Special Branch were aware of a terrorist threat against the Israeli embassy months before the attack. It came from a group unconnected to the two defendants but was not revealed during their trial. They argue the non-disclosure breaches Article 6 of the Human Rights Act.

On Tuesday Mr Mansfield QC said: "One of the questions at the trial was could this have been done by an organisation wanting to discredit the Palestine Liberation Organisation?"

The Israeli intelligence service Mossad had a vested interest in doing so, he said. However, Mr Mansfield admitted there was no evidence to support Mossad involvement.

Yesterday the three appeal judges refused to allow new defence witness Tim Wise to testify.

He was due to tell the court how he reported his flatmate, a British Muslim convert named 'Mohammed', to police a week after the bombings.

He claims he found several incriminating documents plus a list of ammunition and arms in his flatmate's room. One was a plan of the embassy in Kensington.

The appeal was due to finish yesterday.

October 17, 2001 16:05

MATTHEW NIXSON