Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
BBC
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Birmingham Six
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Gerry Conlon
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Guildford Four
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Guiseppe Conlon
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IRA
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Justice
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Shane McGowan
One of the most powerful movies of the 1990's was In the Name of the Father. It was the story of the Guildford Four, arrested and falsely accused of an IRA bombing of a pub in England in 1974. They spent 15 years in prison for a crime they didn't commit.
Another of the Guildford Four has died; the BBC reports:
Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly convicted of the 1974 Guildford IRA pub bombing, has died aged 60 after an illness.He was one of the Guildford Four, who spent 15 years in prison before their convictions were quashed in 1989.
Mr Conlon's family said his fight for justice had "forced the world's closed eyes to be opened to injustice".
His case was highlighted in the 1993 Oscar-nominated film In The Name Of The Father, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson were jailed for life in 1975 for an attack on the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford which killed four soldiers and a civilian, as well as injuring scores more.
All those involved vigorously protested their innocence.
The Court of Appeal quashed their sentences in October 1989, amid doubts raised about the police evidence against them.
An investigation into the case by Avon and Somerset Police found serious flaws in the way Surrey Police handled the case - considered to be one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Britain.
The perpetrators of the Guildford bomb attack have never been brought to justice.
When he emerged from court after his conviction was quashed, Mr Conlon said: "I have been in prison for something I did not do. I am totally innocent."
In 2009, he wrote about the emotional problems he endured as a result of his incarceration, revealing that he had suffered two breakdowns, and attempted suicide. He also developed an addiction to alcohol and drugs.
Mr Conlon died at his home in the Falls Road area of west Belfast after an illness.
In a statement issued through his lawyer Gareth Peirce, Mr Conlon's family said: "He brought life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest hours.
"He helped us to survive what we were not meant to survive.
"We recognise that what he achieved by fighting for justice for us had a far, far greater importance - it forced the world's closed eyes to be opened to injustice; it forced unimaginable wickedness to be acknowledged; we believe it changed the course of history.
"We thank him for his life and we thank all his many friends for their love."
It's hard to reach any other conclusion that his unlawful imprisonment by the British government of the time shortened Conlon's life, and contributed to the problems he experienced once released from prison.
And to add to the outrage, Conlon's father Guiseppe was also wrongly imprisoned on trumped-up charges allied to the Guildford bombing. Guiseppe Conlon died in prison in 1990, a year before his convictions were overturned. He never lived to see justice done.
As a tribute to Gerry and Guiseppe Conlon and those others dealt a grave injustice, check out this video of a song penned by Pogues frontman Shane McGowan about the Guildford Four, and the better-known Birmingham Six. The BBC even managed to censor a public performance of this song!
RIP Gerry Conlon.
