The Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in an infamous miscarriage of justice for two pub bombings in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 that killed 21 people. Their convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal on March 14, 1991. The convictions were overturned largely on the basis that traces of nitroglycerine found on their bodies could have come from innocuous sources such as soap. The judge at the appeal famously declared of the police witnesses at the original trial "They must have lied." Although the Balcombe Street Gang admitted responsibility for the bombings which led to the wrongful imprisonment of the Maguire Seven and the Guildford Four, the perpetrators of the Birmingham bombings were never revealed. Life imprisonment is a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that he or she did not commit. ... The Birmingham pub bombings were two pub bombings by the Provisional IRA in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 which killed 21 people. ... This article is about the city in England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords above it. ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the London Metropolitan Police lasting from December 6 to December 12, 1975. ... The Maguire Seven case was an infamous incident of wrongful conviction in the United Kingdom. ... The Guildford Four were a group of people (Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson), who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing - which killed five people and injured sixty-five more - and imprisoned for over...

Birmingham pub bombings

The Birmingham bombings were attributed to the Provisional IRA, although the group denied this two days later (they eventually conceded that they were responsible). The devices were placed in two central Birmingham pubs: the Mulberry Bush (later renamed, then redeveloped in 2003 as a tourist information office, now being redeveloped again into luxury apartments), at the foot of the Rotunda, and the Tavern in the Town, a basement pub on New Street (later renamed the Yard of Ale). The resulting explosions, at 20:25 and 20:27, collectively were the most injurious and serious terrorist blasts on the island of Britain up until that point; 21 people were killed (ten at the Mulberry Bush and eleven at the Tavern in the Town) and 182 people were injured. A third device, outside a bank on Hagley Road, failed to detonate. The Birmingham pub bombings were two pub bombings by the Provisional IRA in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 which killed 21 people. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rotunda is an iconic, cylindrical tower block in Birmingham, England. ... Terrorist redirects here. ...

Arrests and questioning

Five of the six men arrested were Belfast-born. John Walker was born in Derry. All six had lived in Birmingham since the 1960s. Five of the men, Hill, Hunter, McIlkenny, Power and Walker, had left the city on the early evening of November 21 from New Street Station, shortly before the explosions. They were travelling to Belfast to attend the funeral of James McDade, an IRA member who had accidentally killed himself while planting a bomb in Coventry (Hill was also intending to see an aunt in Belfast who was sick and not expected to live). They were seen off from the station by Callaghan. When they reached Heysham they and others were subject to a Special Branch stop and search. The men did not tell the police of the true purpose of their visit to Belfast, a fact that was later held against them. While the search was in progress the police were informed of the Birmingham bombings. The men agreed to be taken to Morecambe police station for forensic tests. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The tracks approaching the station Birmingham New Street is a major railway station located in the centre of the city of Birmingham, England. ... Staff Captain James McDade (Unknown-14th November, 1974) was an IRA Volunteer who was killed in a premature explosion while planting a bomb in Coventry Post Office. ... A Republican mural in Belfast depicting the hunger strikes of 1981. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... Stone graves overlooking Morecambe Bay, with the mountains of the Lake District in the distance Heysham (pronounced hee-sham) is a small, coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire in England. ... Special Branch is the arm of the British, Irish and many Commonwealth police forces that deals with national security matters. ... Stop and Search is a police power in England and Wales, allowing police officers to search members of the public for weapons, drugs, stolen property, terrorism-related evidence or evidence of other crimes. ... Morecambe is a resort town in the Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. ...

On the morning of November 22, after the forensic tests and routine questioning, the men were transferred to the custody of West Midlands Serious Crime Squad police unit. All men were interrogated by Birmingham CID and were beaten, threatened and forced to sign statements written by the police over three days of questioning. Callaghan was taken into custody on the evening of November 22. November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was a police unit in the English West Midlands which operated from 1974 to 1989. ... The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of all British Police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trial

On May 12, 1975 the six men were charged with murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. Three other men, James Kelly, Michael Murray and Michael Sheehan, were charged with conspiracy and Kelly and Sheehan also faced charges of unlawful possession of explosives. May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

The trial began on June 9, 1975 in Lancaster, England. After legal arguments the statements the men had made in November were deemed admissible as evidence. The accused repudiated the confessions at the trial. The other evidence against the men was largely circumstantial, through their association with IRA members. Although Hill and Power had tested positive for the Greiss test for handling explosives (in actual fact due to traces of cellulose that probably came from innocuous sources, such as the deck of cards they played shortly before they were arrested), the later sample tests were inconclusive. The jury found the six men guilty of murder and on August 15, 1975 they were sentenced to life terms. The judge expressed regret that capital punishment was no longer an option. June 9 is the 160th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (161st in leap years), with 205 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... A view of Lancaster showing the Lune, the Millennium Bridge and the Ashton Memorial Lancaster (2001 census population 45,952: source ONS) is a city in Lancashire, in the north-west of England, UK. It is a commercial, cultural and educational centre. ... The Greiss test is a chemical analysis test which detects the presence of organic nitrite compounds. ... Cellulose as polymer of β-D-glucose Cellulose in 3D Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a long-chain polymeric polysaccharide carbohydrate, of beta-glucose [1][2]. It forms the primary structural component of green plants. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Appeals

In March 1976 their first appeal was dismissed. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ...

Journalist (and later Labour MP and 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 serious 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 innocence including his claim to have met with some of those actually responsible for the bombings. Home Secretary Douglas Hurd MP referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. Chris Mullin MP Christopher John Mullin, known as Chris Mullin, (born 12 December 1947 in Chelmsford, Essex) is an UK Labour politician, currently the member of Parliament for the English constituency of Sunderland South. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... World in Action was an investigative current affairs series produced by Granada Television in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1998. ... The Right Honourable Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC (born March 8, 1930), is a senior British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995. ...

In January 1988, after a six week hearing (at that time the longest criminal appeal hearing ever held), the men's convictions were upheld. The appeal judges, under the Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane, in their summing up strongly supported the original conviction. Over the next three years newspaper articles, television documentaries and books brought forward new evidence to question the conviction while campaign groups calling for the men's release sprang up across Britain, Ireland, Europe and the USA. The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales was, historically, the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor. ... Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane AFC PC (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...

Their third appeal, in 1991, was successful. They were represented by noted human rights solicitor, Gareth Peirce. New evidence of police fabrication and suppression of evidence, the discrediting of both the confessions and the 1975 forensic evidence led to the Crown withdrawing most of its case against the men. In 2001, a decade after their release, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Jean Gareth Peirce (born c. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Consequences

The collapse of the case 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 of 1995 and the establishment of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997. None of the policemen involved were ever prosecuted. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Criminal Cases Review Commission is the independent public body set up to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Richard McIlkenny died in a Dublin hospital on May 21, 2006, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Who Bombed Birmingham?

On 28 March 1990 ITV broadcast the Granada Television documentary drama, Who Bombed Birmingham?, which re-enacted the bombings and subsequent key events in Chris Mullin's campaign. Written by Rob Ritchie and directed by Mike Beckham, it starred John Hurt as Mullin, Martin Shaw as World in Action producer Ian McBride, and Patrick Malahide as Michael Mansfield QC. ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Drama Documentary be merged into this article or section. ... John Hurt as Chancellor Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta. ... Martin Shaw as Judge John Deed Martin Shaw (born January 21, 1945 in Birmingham, England) is an English actor. ... Patrick Malahide (born March 24, 1945) is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles. ... Michael Mansfield QC is a well-known British lawyer. ...

See also

• Guildford Four
• Maguire Seven

The Guildford Four were a group of people (Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson), who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing - which killed five people and injured sixty-five more - and imprisoned for over... The Maguire Seven case was an infamous incident of wrongful conviction in the United Kingdom. ...

External links

• Criminal Cases Review Commission
• House of Commons Debate
• BBC - On This Day
• Birmingham Pub Bombings
• The Birmingham Framework
• Cain Conflict Chronology
• Miscarriages of Justice Organisation
• Birmingham Six