The 25th anniversary of the release of the Birmingham Six serves as a powerful reminder of the fallibility of our justice system, says Jon Robins
On March 14, 1991, Paddy Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter, Billy Power and Johnny Walker stood outside the Old Bailey, free after 16 years, having had their convictions overturned for the murder of 21 people in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.
Such was the public outrage felt by this—still the most notorious miscarriage of justice of modern times—seismic shockwaves were sent through our criminal justice system.
The men’s release set in train a series of events: a Royal Commission was launched that very day which ultimately led to a major structural reform of the justice system and the creation of an independent body to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice.
Dark days
Back into the dark days of 1970s and 1980s the Irish routinely received rough justice from our justice system, a point made by Paul May, who chaired the Birmingham Six campaign and has run countless others since then
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