Birmingham Six

"Birmingham 6" redirects here. For the Danish band, seeBirmingham 6 (band).For the Pogues song, seeStreets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six.

Paddy Hill in 2015

TheBirmingham Sixwere six Northern Irishmen who were each sentenced tolife imprisonmentin 1975 following theirfalse convictionsfor the 1974Birmingham pub bombings.Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory andquashedby theCourt of Appealon 14 March 1991. The six men were later awardedfinancial compensationranging from£840,000 to £1.2 million.

Birmingham pub bombings

TheBirmingham pub bombingstook place on 21 November 1974 and were attributed to theProvisional Irish Republican Army(IRA).Improvised explosive deviceswere placed in two central Birmingham pubs: the Mulberry Bush at the foot of theRotunda,and the Tavern in the Town – a basement pub inNew Street.The resultingexplosions,at 20:25 and 20:27, collectively were the deadliest attacks in the UK sinceWorld War II(until surpassed by theDenmark Place firein 1980); 21 people were killed (ten at the Mulberry Bush and eleven at the Tavern in the Town) and 182 people were injured.

Arrests and questioning

Six men were arrested: Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker. Five wereBelfast-born, while John Walker was born inDerry.All six had lived in Birmingham since the 1960s. All the men except for Callaghan had left the city early on the evening of 21 November fromNew Street Station,shortly before the explosions. They were travelling to Belfast to attend the funeral of James McDade, an IRAmemberwhom they all knew.McDade had accidentally killed himself on 14 November when his bombdetonatedprematurely while he was planting it at atelephone exchangeinCoventry.

When they reachedHeysham,Lancashire,they and others were subject to aSpecial Branchstop 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 toMorecambe,Lancashire, police station forforensictests.

On the morning of 22 November, after the forensic tests and questioning by the Morecambe police, the men were transferred to the custody ofWest Midlands Serious Crime Squadpolice unit. Callaghan was taken into custody on the evening of 22 November.

While the men were in the custody of theWest Midlands Policethey were allegedlydeprived of foodand sleep,and were sometimesinterrogatedfor 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 amock execution.William Power said that officers from Birmingham police Criminal Investigation Departmentassaultedhim.Richard McIlkenny's daughter said, "When they (the family) saw him the next day, he had been so badly beaten he was unrecognisable."

Power confessed while in Morecambe while Callaghan, Walker and McIlkenny confessed at Queens Road inAston,Birmingham.

Trial

On 12 May 1975, the six men werechargedwithmurder.Three other men, James Kelly,Mick Murrayand Michael Sheehan, were charged with conspiracy.

The trial began on 9 June 1975 at theCrown Courtsitting atLancaster Castle,beforeMr Justice Bridgeand a jury. After legal arguments the statements made in November were deemed admissible as evidence. The unreliability of these statements was later established.Thomas Wattprovidedcircumstantial evidenceabout John Walker's association with Provisional IRA members.

Forensic scientistDrFrank Skuseused positiveGriess testresults to claim that Hill and Power had handled explosives. Callaghan, Hunter, McIlkenny and Walker all had tested negative.GCMStests at a later date were negative for Power and contradicted the initial results for Hill.Skuse's claim that he was 99% certain that Power and Hill had explosives traces on their hands was opposed by defence expert Dr Hugh Kenneth Black of theRoyal Institute of Chemistry,the former HM Chief Inspector of Explosives, Home Office. Skuse's evidence was clearly preferred by Bridge.The jury found the six men guilty of murder. On 15 August 1975, they were each sentenced to 21 life sentences.

Criminal charges against prison officers and civil actions against police

On 28 November 1975, the men appeared in court for the second time after they had beenremandedinto custody atHM Prison Winson Green.All showed bruising and other signs of ill-treatment.Fourteen prison officers were charged with assault in June 1975, but were all acquitted at a trial presided over byMr. Justice Swanwick.The Six brought a civil claim for damages against theWest Midlands Policein 1977, which was struck out on 17 January 1980 by the Court of Appeal (Civil Division), constituted by theMaster of the Rolls,Lord Denning,Goff LJand Sir George Baker,under the principle ofestoppel.

Appeals

In March 1976 their first application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, presided over byLord WidgeryCJ.JournalistChris Mullininvestigated the case forGranada TV'sWorld in Actionseries. In 1985, the first of severalWorld in Actionprogrammes 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 the four men who were actually responsible for the bombings.

TheHome Secretary,Douglas Hurd,referred the case back to theCourt 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 JusticeLord 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 byLord GiffordQC,the others byMichael MansfieldQC. The Crown decided not to resist the appeals on the basis of new evidence of police fabrication andsuppression of evidence,the successful attacks on both the confessions, and the 1975 forensic evidence. The Court of Appeal, constituted by Lord Justices Lloyd, Mustill and Farquharson, stated that "in the light of the fresh scientific evidence, which at least throws grave doubt on Dr. Skuse's evidence, if it does not destroy it altogether, these convictions are both unsafe and unsatisfactory."On 14 March 1991 the six walked free.

In 2001, a decade after their release, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.

Richard McIlkenny, one of the six men wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings, died ofcanceron 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.McIlkenny was buried on 24 May inCelbridge, County Kildare.The other members of the Birmingham Six were present at hiswakeand funeral.

Hugh Callaghan died on 27 May 2023, aged 93.

Of the four surviving members of the Birmingham Six, Patrick Hill currently resides inAyrshire;Gerard Hunter inPortugal;John Walker inDonegal;William Power inLondon.

Consequences

The success of the appeals and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up aRoyal Commission on Criminal Justicein 1991. The commission reported in 1993 and led to the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 which established theCriminal Cases Review Commissionin 1997.SuperintendentGeorge Reade and two other police officers were charged withperjuryandconspiracytopervert the course of justicebut were never prosecuted. During theinquestinto the bombings in 2016, Hill stated that he knew the identities of three of the bombers who were still "free men" in Ireland.

Granada Television productions

On 28 March 1990,ITVbroadcast theGranada Televisiondocudrama,Who Bombed Birmingham?,which re-enacted the bombings and subsequent key events inChris Mullin's campaign. Written by Rob Ritchie and directed by Mike Beckham, it starredJohn Hurtas Mullin,Martin ShawasWorld in Actionproducer Ian McBride,Ciarán Hindsas Richard McIlkenny, one of the Six, andPatrick MalahideasMichael Mansfield(QC).It was repackaged for export asThe Investigation – Inside a Terrorist Bombing,and first shown on American television on 22 April 1990.Granada'sBAFTA-nominated follow-up documentary after the release of the six men,World in Action Special: The Birmingham Six – Their Own Story,was telecast on 18 March 1991.It was released on DVD in 2007 in Network's first volume ofWorld in Actionproductions.

In 1994, Frank Skuse broughtlibelproceedings against Granada, contending thatWorld in Actionhad falsely portrayed him as negligent. His counsel asserted in theHigh Courtthat scientific tests performed in 1992, after the Crown's substantive concession of the accused men's third appeal, showed that traces of nitroglycerine were detected on swabs taken after the bombings from the hands of Hunter and Hill, and on rail tickets handled by McIlkenny and Power. Granada maintained there were never any traces of explosives on the six men.Skuse abandoned the action later that year.

Freedom of speech

In December 1987, the Court of Appeal granted aninjunctionwhich preventedChannel 4from re-enacting portions of a hearing in the litigation, as it was "likely to undermine public confidence in the administration of justice" if shown during the appeal, in violation of theContempt of Court Act 1981.In their bookThe Three Pillars of Liberty(1996)Keir Starmer,Francesca Klug,andStuart Weirsaid the decision had had a "chilling effect"on other news and current affairs programmes.

In January 1988 after their first appeal failed,The Sunpublished an article with the headline "Loony MP Backs Bomb Gang" (a reference to Mullin, who had won a seat in1987) and an editorial said, "IfThe Sunhad its way, we would have been tempted tostring 'em upyears ago ".

In 1993 and 1994, the Birmingham Six received an undisclosed amount from bothThe Sunday TelegraphandThe Sunin an action for libel for the newspapers' reporting of police statements.The New York Timesreported 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.They sued the Conservative MPDavid Evansin 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 never to repeat the allegation.

Attempt to force journalist to reveal sources

During his investigation, which proved crucial in establishing the innocence of the Six, 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. In 2019 a witness at the inquest testified that the real bombers were Mick Murray, James Francis Gavin, Seamus McLoughlin and Michael Hayes. Mullin confirmed that Murray, Gavin and Hayes were three of the four bombers he had revealed in his book, but he refused to identify the fourth bomber who he called the "young Planter" who was still alive.Mullin cooperated with the investigation as far as he felt was possible, for example providing notes of interviews with 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 thatsource protectionis a cornerstone of the free press in a democracy.

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.

See also

• Guildford Four and Maguire Seven,two sets of people falsely convicted of theGuildford pub bombingswhich were carried out by theProvisional 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 byThe Poguesin support of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four
• List of miscarriage of justice cases

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
• The Birmingham Six and Other Cases;Louis Blom-Cooper;ISBN0-7156-2813-5.
• Forever Lost, Forever Gone; Paddy Joe Hill