40 Years Ago.

[tonyav]

I can hardly believe it's been 40 since the Birmingham pub bombings, and still no one bought to justice for these atrocities.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/magazine/birmingham-six-40th-anniversary-of-pub-bombings-that-led-to-one-of-the-worst-miscarriages-of-british-justice/ar-BBf1WIp

[jno]

you don't have to; they don't have to; nobody ever had to. The prosecution had to prove them guilty but did so only with the help of a report from an incompetent scientist. The Court of Appeal said "Dr Skuse's conclusion was wrong, and demonstrably wrong, judged even by the state of forensic science in 1974".

[Peter Pedant]

// justice for those killed in the bombings was hampered by the corrupt police fitting up 6 innocent people. Once they were convicted, the Police could give up trying to find the real criminals.//

see also Divebuddy passim on this thread

they orchestrated a 'well they really are guilty and got off on a technicality' at the time of their release which also had the effect of deadening any effort to find out who done it

Parallels with trial of John Demjanduk, where the defence rubbished the prosecution case. So the prosecution as a hail-mary move applied to prosecute him - as he had lied and therefore he must have been bad whilst covering up..... case thrown out.

appalling times

The ambulance service communications broke down
so the taxi formed an impromptu line and took casualties to the General - Steelhouse Lane.
They opened all the theatres and started also operating in curtained cubicles on an open ward. Eight emergency threatres at one time

[Gromit]

// I have never understood why a normal household would need an industrial-sized quantity of surgical gloves. //

The Maguire house was searched with dogs and no explosive traces were found. A week later the Police returned and found a sample the size of a thousandth of a grain of sugar on a washing up glove. Ann Maguire suffered from Dermatitis and it is now accepted the gycerene came from her hand cream.

I repaet the sample was on a washing up glove.

[Svejk]

I used to think they were innocent till I heard, on good authority, that they warned certain people NOT to go into town that night.

[Peter Pedant]

divebuddy - read and be educated:
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-pub-bombings-name-man-8141604

[BlackadderV]

Reminiscent of the Gunpowder Plot when Lord Mounteagle was warned not to attend the opening of parliament.

[Peter Pedant]

// A week later the Police returned and found a sample the size of a thousandth of a grain of sugar on a washing up glove.//

unfortunately Dr Skuse gave evidence that there was a nitroglycerine FSD ( full-scale deflection, that is dial needle goes as high as it would go ) and therefore he was 'sure' that nitro was present

and like Divebuddy all the Brum readers swallowed this *** whole....

[Peter Pedant]

Not really

Monteagle was warned in a letter ( which still exists )
whereas Schweik's frenz were warned on good authority by word of mouth and nothing exists except their memories and imagination

[mikey4444]

The people who were charged and tried were entirely innocent.....there is no doubt about that whatsoever.

The problem is there will always be people that refuse to accept that...its a case " I have made my mind up, now don't confuse me with the facts"

When I see this case being discussed, the disgraceful words of Lord Denning comes immediately to mind :::

In 1980, during an appeal by the Birmingham Six (who were later acquitted) Lord Denning judged that the men should be stopped from challenging legal decisions. He listed several reasons for not allowing their appeal:
Just consider the course of events if their action were to proceed to trial ... If the six men failed it would mean that much time and money and worry would have been expended by many people to no good purpose. If they won, it would mean that the police were guilty of perjury; that they were guilty of violence and threats; that the confessions were involuntary and improperly admitted in evidence; and that the convictions were erroneous. ... That was such an appalling vista that every sensible person would say, "It cannot be right that these actions should go any further"

As well as the real murderers not being convicted, the corrupt and incompetent Police involved with the fitting up of the Birmingham 6 have never been brought to book, thus entailing two miscarriages of justices being committed.

I wonder how the relatives of those that were murdered feel about that ?