Fred...My recollection of what Denning said in his taped interview with AN Wilson seems to differ from your somewhat rosy-eyed view :::
In the summer of 1990 he agreed to a taped interview with A.N. Wilson, to be published in The Spectator. They discussed the Guildford Four; Denning remarked that if the Guildford Four had been hanged "They'd probably have hanged the right men. Just not proved against them, that's all".[93] His remarks were controversial and came at a time when the issue of miscarriage of justice was a sensitive topic.[94] He had expressed a similar controversial opinion regarding the Birmingham Six in 1988, saying: "Hanging ought to be retained for murder most foul. We shouldn't have all these campaigns to get the Birmingham Six released if they'd been hanged. They'd have been forgotten, and the whole community would be satisfied... It is better that some innocent men remain in jail than that the integrity of the English judicial system be impugned."
The full Wiki entry is here :::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Denning,_Baron_Denning
He is quite clearly stating three things :::
1..that the Guildford Four were guilty,
2...they should have been hanged, despite not being guilty, and
3...Better innocent be jailed or hung, rather than the integrity of British Justice be impugned.
Denning may indeed have taken the side of "little men" but not, it would seem, if they were innocent men, fitted up by corrupt police evidence, along with a general incompetence of the judicial system.
His remarks regarding the issue of not having campaigns to clear innocents people, as long as they were hanged, is breathtaking in it ignorance and insensitivity. As he had a long and illustrious career, perhaps it is charitable to think that these remarks were due to his advanced age, rather than a reflection on humanity.