The Birmingham Six: A Total Miscarriage of Justice
On 21 November 1974, Birmingham was rocked by two devastating explosions that tore through the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town, two popular pubs in the heart of the city. The bombings, attributed to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), resulted in 21 deaths and 182 injuries, making them the deadliest attacks in the UK since the Second World War. The devastation was immediate, and the pressure to bring those responsible to justice was immense.
The Arrest and Questioning of the Birmingham Six
In the chaotic aftermath, six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power, and John Walker—were arrested. Five were originally from Belfast, while Walker hailed from Derry. The men had lived in Birmingham since the 1960s and were travelling to Belfast for the funeral of IRA member James McDade, who had accidentally killed himself while attempting to plant a bomb in Coventry on 14 November 1974.
Their journey took them to Heysham, Lancashire, where they were stopped and searched by Special Branch officers. Unbeknownst to them, as they were being questioned, news of the Birmingham bombings reached the police. With suspicions aroused, they were taken to Morecambe police station for forensic tests, which, at the time, produced inconclusive results.
However, the real nightmare began when they were transferred to the custody of the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad. The six men were subjected to brutal interrogations, deprived of food and sleep, and, according to their later testimonies, beaten, threatened, and psychologically tortured. One of the most disturbing accounts came from William Power, who described being attacked by officers from Birmingham's Criminal Investigation Department. Richard McIlkenny’s daughter later recalled that her father was beaten so badly he was almost unrecognisable the next day.
Under such conditions, confessions were extracted. Power confessed in Morecambe, while Callaghan, Walker, and McIlkenny confessed after being transferred to Aston, Birmingham. These confessions, despite being obtained under duress, would go on to form the backbone of the prosecution’s case against them.
The Trial: A Foregone Conclusion
The trial of the Birmingham Six began on 9 June 1975 at Lancaster Castle, presided over by Mr Justice Bridge. The defence was faced with the near-impossible task of discrediting the confessions and unreliable forensic evidence. Forensic scientist Frank Skuse claimed that a positive Griess test indicated that Hill and Power had handled explosives—an assertion later discredited. Defence expert Hugh Kenneth Black challenged Skuse’s conclusions, but the jury sided with the prosecution.
Despite clear issues with the evidence, the jury found the six men guilty of murder. On 15 August 1975, they were sentenced to life imprisonment. This miscarriage of justice was only beginning, and it would take years of campaigning to finally overturn their convictions.
The Fight for Justice
The Birmingham Six spent the next decade languishing in prison while their case remained largely forgotten. Their appeals were repeatedly dismissed, with Lord Widgery upholding their convictions in 1976. However, investigative journalist Chris Mullin took an interest in the case, launching an independent investigation that would eventually uncover significant evidence of police misconduct and forensic fallacies.
In 1985, Granada Television’s World in Action aired a documentary questioning the convictions. Mullin’s 1986 book, Error of Judgment: The Truth About the Birmingham Pub Bombings, took the matter further, alleging that four other men—not the Birmingham Six—were the true bombers.
As public outcry grew, the Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, referred the case back to the Court of Appeal. Despite a six-week hearing—the longest of its kind at the time—the convictions were deemed safe in 1988. However, new evidence continued to emerge, including proof that the forensic tests were flawed and that police had fabricated statements.
In 1991, after 16 years behind bars, the Birmingham Six had their convictions quashed.
Lord Justice Lloyd, delivering the ruling, stated that "in light of the fresh scientific evidence... these convictions are both unsafe and unsatisfactory." On 14 March 1991, the six men walked free, vindicated at last.
'The police told us from the start that they knew we hadn't done it, ' 45-year-old Patrick Hill shouted to the crowd outside the court.
'They told us they didn't care who had done it. They told us we were selected, and that they were going to frame us just to keep the people in there happy,' Hill said, pointing to the courthouse.
'That's what it's all about, justice,' he said. 'I don't think the people in there have the intelligence or the honesty to spell the word out, never mind to dispense it.'
Aftermath: Compensation, Reform, and Lingering Questions
A decade after their release, in 2001, the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million. While this provided financial support, it could never truly make up for the years of wrongful imprisonment and the suffering endured.
The Birmingham Six case, alongside other wrongful convictions such as the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven, led to significant legal reforms in the UK. The 1993 Royal Commission on Criminal Justice ultimately resulted in the Criminal Appeal Act 1995, which established the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in 1997. This independent body was tasked with investigating potential miscarriages of justice, helping to prevent similar cases from occurring in the future.
Despite these reforms, justice remained elusive for those responsible for the bombings. Although former Birmingham Six member Patrick Hill later claimed to know the identities of some of the real bombers, no new arrests were made. The 2016 inquest into the bombings reopened old wounds, revealing that some of those involved were still alive and living in Ireland.
Seven women and 14 men aged between 16 and 56 died in the blasts.
Their names are Michael Beasley, John Rowlands, Stanley Bodman, John Clifford Jones, James Caddick, Neil Marsh, Paul Davies, Maxine Hambleton, Jane Davis, Stephen Whalley, Lynn Bennett, Desmond Reilly, Eugene Reilly, Marilyn Nash, Anne Hayes, Charles Gray, Thomas Chaytor, Pamela Palmer, Maureen Roberts, Trevor Thrupp and James Craig.
The Legacy of the Birmingham Six
The Birmingham Six case remains a chilling example of how a rush to justice can lead to wrongful convictions. It highlights the dangers of relying on coerced confessions, flawed forensic science, and institutional corruption. While the six men were eventually freed, their ordeal left deep scars, and the search for the true perpetrators of the Birmingham pub bombings remains unresolved.
Granada Television's Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990), starring John Hurt, and later documentaries kept the story in the public eye. Meanwhile, journalist Chris Mullin continued to defend his sources, refusing to reveal the identity of one of the surviving bombers, despite police efforts to compel him to do so under the Terrorism Act 2000. In 2022, a judge ruled in Mullin’s favour, protecting journalistic integrity and the principle of source confidentiality.
The Birmingham Six's story is a stark reminder of the fallibility of the justice system. It serves as a cautionary tale against hasty convictions driven by political pressure and public outcry. Though their names were cleared, the fight for justice remains ongoing—for the victims, for their families, and for a society that still grapples with the consequences of one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in British history.
References
[1] The Guardian, "Birmingham Pub Bombings,"
[2] BBC News, "The Birmingham Six: A Miscarriage of Justice,"
[3] Chris Mullin, Error of Judgment: The Truth About the Birmingham Pub Bombings
[4] The Criminal Cases Review Commission, "History and Impact,"
[5] ITV News, "Who Bombed Birmingham? The Search for Justice,"