Birmingham Six & Guildford Four

A_Sober_Paddy

Hey all,

Am currently having a conversation with a mate about the Birmingham Six & Guildford Four...

Did the British Government ever issue an apology for their false convictions?

Rented Mule

Honestly don't remember one.....this gives a small insight into their appeal and eventual release.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Six

Appeals

In March 1976 their first application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, presided over by Lord Widgery CJ.[9] Journalist (later Government minister) Chris Mullin investigated the case for Granada TV's World in Action series. In 1985, the first of several World in Action programmes casting doubt on the men's convictions was broadcast. In 1986, Mullin's book, Error of Judgment: The Truth About the Birmingham Pub Bombings, set out a detailed case supporting the men's claims that they were innocent. It included his claim to have met some of those who were actually responsible for the bombings.

The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd MP, referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. In January 1988, after a six week hearing (at that time the longest criminal appeal hearing ever held), the convictions were ruled to be safe and satisfactory. The Court of Appeal, presided over by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane dismissed the appeals. Over the next three years newspaper articles, television documentaries and books brought forward new evidence to question the safety of the convictions, while campaign groups calling for the men's release were formed in Britain, Ireland, Europe and the US.[citation needed]

Their second full appeal, in 1991, was allowed. Hunter was represented by Lord Gifford QC, others by human rights solicitor Gareth Peirce. New evidence of police fabrication and suppression of evidence, the successful attacks on both the confessions and the 1975 forensic evidence caused the Crown to decide not to resist the appeals. The Court of Appeal, constituted by Lord Justices Lloyd, Mustill and Farquharson, stated of the forensic evidence that "Dr. Skuse's conclusion was wrong, and demonstrably wrong, judged even by the state of forensic science in 1974."[10] In 2001, a decade after their release, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.
Consequences

The success of the appeals and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in 1991. The commission reported in 1993 and led to the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 which established the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997. Superintendent George Reade and two other police officers were charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but were never prosecuted. Richard McIlkenny died of cancer in a Dublin hospital on 21 May 2006.

Laminations

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Hey all,

Am currently having a conversation with a mate about the Birmingham Six & Guildford Four...

Did the British Government ever issue an apology for their false convictions?

Birmingham Six: 35 years on from injustice

Birmingham six, compensation but no apology

After 16 years of waiting, an apology at last for the Guildford Four


Guildford four, Blair apologised.

You must have one of them internets that doesn't pick up Google?

A_Sober_Paddy

Too both who replied cheers.

But I'm currently having a serious prob with either my laptop or internet can only seem to access boards and twitter through my bookmarks.

Can't access Google keep getting some sort of error message.

Cheers for the replies greatly appreciated

Scofflaw

Question answered, thread closed. No offence to the OP, but where the thread goes from here is unlikely to be pretty.

moderately,
Scofflaw