Birmingham Six
The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to
Birmingham pub bombings
The
Arrests and questioning
Six men were arrested: Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker. Five were
When they reached
On the morning of 22 November, after the forensic tests and questioning by the Morecambe police, the men were transferred to the custody of West Midlands Serious Crime Squad police unit. Callaghan was taken into custody on the evening of 22 November.
While the men were in the custody of the West Midlands Police they were allegedly deprived of food and sleep, and were sometimes interrogated for as much as 12 hours without a break. Threats were made against them and they suffered abuse: punches, dogs being let loose within a foot of them, and a mock execution.[5][6] William Power alleged that he was assaulted by members of Birmingham Criminal Investigation Department.[7] Richard McIlkenny's daughter said, "When they (the family) saw him the next day, he had been so badly beaten he was unrecognisable."[8]
Power confessed while in Morecambe while Callaghan, Walker and McIlkenny confessed at Queens Road in Aston, Birmingham.[9]
Trial
On 12 May 1975, the six men were charged with murder. Three other men, James Kelly, Mick Murray and Michael Sheehan, were charged with conspiracy.
The trial began on 9 June 1975 at the Crown Court sitting at Lancaster Castle, before Mr Justice Bridge and a jury. After legal arguments the statements made in November were deemed admissible as evidence. The unreliability of these statements was later established. Thomas Watt provided circumstantial evidence about John Walker's association with Provisional IRA members.[10]
Criminal charges against prison officers and civil actions against police
On 28 November 1974, the men appeared in court for the second time after they had been
Appeals
In March 1976 their first application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, presided over by
The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, 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.
Their second full appeal, in 1991, was allowed. Hunter was represented by
In 2001, a decade after their release, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.[20]
Richard McIlkenny, one of the six men wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings, died of cancer on 21 May 2006, aged 73. He had returned to Ireland shortly after he was freed from prison, and died in hospital with his family at his bedside.[21] McIlkenny was buried on 24 May in Celbridge, County Kildare. The other members of the Birmingham Six were present at his wake and funeral.[8]
Hugh Callaghan died on 27 May 2023, aged 93.[22]
Of the four surviving members of the Birmingham Six, Patrick Hill currently resides in Ayrshire; Gerard Hunter in Portugal; John Walker in Donegal; William Power in London.[23]
Consequences
The success of the appeals and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up a
Granada Television productions
On 28 March 1990,
In 1994, Frank Skuse brought
Freedom of speech
In December 1987, the Court of Appeal granted an
In January 1988 after their first appeal failed, The Sun said "LOONY MP BACKS BOMB GANG" and an editorial said, "If The Sun had its way, we would have been tempted to string 'em up years ago".[34]
In 1993 and 1994, the Birmingham Six received an undisclosed amount from both The Sunday Telegraph and The Sun in an action for libel for the newspapers' reporting of police statements.[35] The New York Times reported in 1997 that the Six had brought libel actions against publications for reporting slurs against them, and that a libel law that usually favours plaintiffs was sending a chill through the British press.[36] The Conservative MP David Evans was sued by them in March 1997 for saying that they were guilty of killing hundreds of people before they were caught. Evans apologised 16 months later. He paid both damages and costs and promised he would never repeat the allegation again.[37]
Attempt to force journalist to reveal sources
During his investigation, which proved crucial in establishing the innocence of the Six, Chris Mullin located one of the actual bombers and persuaded him to provide information which helped the men falsely convicted. Mullin promised that he would never reveal his source. At the time the police were not interested, as they believed that they had already arrested the culprits.
However, in 2018 the West Midlands police reopened the investigation, almost 50 years after the event. Two of the four bombers had died. Mullin cooperated with the investigation as far as he felt was possible, for example providing notes of interviews with dead bomber Michael Murray and a redacted copy of notes of other interviews. But Mullin refused to name other people interviewed. The West Midlands police applied for an order under the Terrorism Act 2000 to compel Mullin to reveal his sources; he refused, later saying that source protection is a cornerstone of the free press in a democracy.[38]
In March 2022 Judge Lucraft ruled that it was not in the public interest to oblige Mullin to identify the living perpetrator. Mullin's legal team later said, hailing the ruling, that the right of a journalist to protect their sources was fundamental to a free press in a democracy.[39]
See also
- Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gangin 1974.
- Reykjavik Six, a gang of youths falsely accused of the murder of two disappeared people in Iceland in 1974.
- Maamtrasna trial
- "Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six", a song by The Pogues in support of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four
- List of miscarriage of justice cases
References
- ^ Although the IRA denied that it was involved in the bombings two days after the event, and the IRA has never formally admitted responsibility for the Birmingham bomb, in 1985 a former IRA chief of staff, Joe Cahill, acknowledged the IRA's role, and 30 years after the bombings Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, expressed his regrets about the bombings and the huge loss of life and injuries they inflicted (Chrisafis, Angelique. IRA fails to say sorry for Birmingham pub bombs, The Guardian 22 November 2004, Staff.
Adams expresses regret for Birmingham pub bombings British government.
- ^ "Birmingham Six 'were in the wrong place at the wrong time'". BBC News. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Obituary: Richard McIlkenny". The Guardian. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Key events surrounding Birmingham pub bombings". www.shropshirestar.com. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "The Birmingham Six: Have we learned from our disgraceful past?". The Guardian. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Flashback 1991: Release of the Birmingham Six". independent. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ CAIN: Events: Birmingham Six: Fr. Denis Faul and Fr. Raymond Murray. (n.d; 1975?) The Birmingham Framework: Six innocent men framed for the Birmingham Bombings, cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 6 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Birmingham Six's Richard McIlkenny". The Irish Times. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ p229 Chris Mullin Error of Judgement
- ^ Schurr, Beverley (1993). "Expert Witnesses And The Duties Of Disclosure & Impartiality: The Lessons Of The IRA Cases In England" (PDF). NetK.net.au. NSW Legal Aid Commission. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ R v McIlkenney (2019) 93 Cr.App.R. 287
- ^ CAIN: Events: Birmingham Six: Fr. Denis Faul and Fr. Raymond Murray. (1976) The Birmingham Framework: Six innocent men framed for the Birmingham Bombings
- ^ Richards, Andy; Cannon, Matt (19 November 2014). "Birmingham pub bombings: The 28 numbers that add up to a cover-up, say campaigners". The Birmingham Post. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- ^ McIlkenny -v- Chief Constable of the West Midlands [1980] QB 283
- ^ Judgments – Polanski (Appellant) v. Conde Nast Publications Limited (Respondents) UK Parliament publications Paragraph 86
- ^ Miscarriages of Justice; Bob Woffinden (1987)
- ^ R v McIlkenney (1991) 93 Cr.App.R. 287–318.
- ^ Peirce, Gareth (12 March 2011). "The Birmingham Six: Have we learned from our disgraceful past?". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
- ^ "40th anniversary of pub bombings that led to one of the worst miscarriages of British justice", The Independent, 21 November 2014.
- ^ The Guardian 22 May 2006
- ^ “RTÉ News” 01 June 2023
- ^ Daily Record, 9 March 2011.
- ^ BFI Screenonline – World in Action
- ISBN 978-1-900203-33-3
- ^ – Who Bombed Birmingham? – British Film Institute
- ^ – The Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing – IMDB
- ^ – World in Action Special: The Birmingham Six – Their Own Story British Film Institute
- ^ World in Action Volume 1, networkdvd.net; accessed 6 April 2017.
- ^ Heather Mills "Scientist in Birmingham Six case sues TV firm for libel", The Independent, 5 October 1994.
- ^ "Pub blasts scientist drops libel action", The Independent, 18 October 1994.
- ISBN 9780300056242.
- ISBN 978-041509642-3.
- ^ Error of Judgement, by Chris Mullin, Poolbeg Press, 1990, p.310.
- ISBN 978-1-4479-2306-0. Archived(PDF) from the original on 14 July 2015.
- ^ Lyall, Sarah (7 July 1997). "A libel law that usually favours plaintiffs sends a chill through the British press". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ "Former MP says sorry to Six over 'guilty' remark. - Free Online Library".
- ^ Mullin, Chris (23 March 2022). "I had to keep my sources secret, or the Birmingham Six might still be in jail". The Guardian.
- ^ Campbell, Duncan (22 March 2022). "Birmingham pub bombings: court allows Chris Mullin to keep source secret". The Guardian.
Further reading
- Transcript of Appeal Hearing: McIlkenny & Ors, R. v, 1991, EWCA Crim 2 (27 March 1991)
- Criminal Cases Review Commission
- House of Commons Debate
- BBC – On This Day
- Innocence Network UK (INUK)
- Birmingham Pub Bombings
- The Birmingham Framework
- Cain Conflict Chronology
- Miscarriages of Justice Organisation
- Birmingham Six
- Error of Judgment: The Truth About the Birmingham Bombings; Chris Mullin
- ISBN 0-7156-2813-5.
- Forever Lost, Forever Gone; Paddy Joe Hill