A profoundly moving man who turned to helping others rather than the more obvious path of vengeance. A great example to all. But when will lawyers ever learn to apologise? Gerry Conlon had spoken candidly about the impact the wrongful conviction had had on him and the others since their release, and wrote an autobiography, upon which the movie […]. November 01 Home About us Donate.
Share on facebook. Share on twitter. By Mary-Rachel McCabe. Author: Mary-Rachel McCabe. Most Popular. Stay informed. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. The Justice Gap is an online magazine about the law and justice run by journalists. Our print magazine is Proof. Buy Proof Magazine. Dennis McFadden says:. October 2, at pm. Carol Toal says:. Richard Dunstan says:. October 3, at am.
Al says:. October 3, at pm. AllenVincent says:. October 16, at am. Seamus Doherty says:. December 18, at pm. March 13, at pm. April 2, at am. August 2, at pm. Sara Cunningham-Bell says:. August 26, at am.
Celebrating peace is easy, but how do we end the wars? World Peace Days Wrexham says:. September 24, at pm. Mitch55 says:. October 20, at am. Lana Bills says:. June 18, at am. Jenniferjennielucas gmail. August 13, at pm. McDara Sullivan says:. February 14, at pm. Sean Goodsir-Cullen says:. April 14, at pm. A letter written by Mr Conlon 12 years into his life term following the Guildford pub bombings in suggested he was thinking of killing himself.
The wrongly-convicted men served 15 years before their release in It is widely regarded as one of the UK's worst miscarriages of justice. Mr Conlon wrote to the Irish tanaiste and foreign affairs minister Brian Lenihan: "If nothing is done to help us, I must face another 18 years of a 'living hell'. After reading the letter, Mr Conlon's sister, Ann McKernan said: "Who could blame Gerry if he contemplated suicide, an innocent man who watched our innocent father die in a British prison?
I'm glad this letter has come to light because it shows that, even in the deepest despair, Gerry had a firm grip on the issues over his arrest. Mr Lenihan's reply a month later tried to assure Mr Conlon of the support of the Irish government. He wrote: "I understand the frustration which you now feel after 12 years of imprisonment. Five people died and more than 65 were injured in the Guildford explosions. When the Guildford Four were sentenced, trial judge Mr Justice Donaldson told them: "If hanging were still an option, you would have been executed.
The BBC has seen the private papers of his predecessor Merlyn Rees - later Lord Rees - including some files that remain closed to the general public. One file contained a letter from Lord Whitelaw to Cardinal Basil Hume, who had campaigned on behalf of the Writing the day after Mr Conlon died aged 56, four years into his year prison term, he said: "Although it will be of no comfort to his family I thought you should know in confidence that I had in fact already come to the conclusion that should Mr Conlon recover sufficiently to be discharged from hospital, it would not be right to return him to prison.
Further letters revealed how the decision was leaked to the press after the government tried to keep it private. Mr Conlon's granddaughter Sarah McIlhone said her mother, Ann McKernan, was too ill to comment, but would demand the truth needed to be told. My granddad and my uncle Gerry were innocent men," Ms McIlhone said. We don't know what to say.
Patrick Conlon was arrested after his son Gerry's false confessions, which he alleged were made as a result of police brutality. In , after the BBC accessed files on the case, Ann McKernan described how her brother was left feeling lasting guilt over what had happened to their father.
Christopher Stanley, from KRW Law which represents the Conlon family, said: "This sad revelation confirms again the demand for truth and justice regarding both the Guildford pub bombings and the wrongful conviction of the Guildford Four. He has successfully applied to the Surrey Coroner for a fresh hearing - a pre-inquest review - into the bombings.
Richard O'Rawe, a former Irish republican prisoner who grew up with Gerry Conlon in Belfast, said: "We thought we were beyond shock, we are not. Human rights lawyer Alastair Logan, who previously represented the Conlons, believes the secrecy suggests the government was "covering themselves", and said the important matter was what it knew about Mr Conlon's condition.
Mr Logan said when Mr Conlon was in Wakefield Prison, he believed his condition was chronic and would inevitably lead to his death, and by the time he reached Wormwood Scrubs it was much worse.
He said arrangements were not even made to give Mr Conlon meals when he could not make it down the stairs from the third floor of Wakefield Prison to the ground floor to eat.
0コメント