BLAIR EXPECTED TO ISSUE APOLOGY FOR GUILFORD CONVICTIONS
01/31/05 10:30 EST
British primeminister Tony Blair is expected to issue a
public apology for the wrongful imprisonment of Gerry Conlon
- one of the Guildford Four - and his father.
Mr Conlon and his late father Guiseppe were both convicted
of planting a bomb in the Horse and Groom pub in Guildford
in October 1974, but their sentences were quashed in 1989.
Speaking at the weekend, NI Secretary Paul Murphy said he
thought Mr Blair would offer a public apology.
"He has already written, of course, to the family expressing
his view that there was a very serious miscarriage of
justice, he very much regrets that, and that he is very
sorry for the hurt and suffering of the family," he said.
"I have no doubt that if asked the same in public he would
make a similar public apology. There are all sorts of ways
in which that can happen but I am sure he will talk to the
taoiseach on Tuesday, the taoiseach will raise it and they
can work it out from there."
Mr Conlon was one of four people initially detained after
the Guildford attack, which claimed the lives of four
soldiers and a civilian.
The four jailed had their sentences quashed after doubts
over evidence. The Conlon family has received a private
acknowledgement that there was a miscarriage of justice but
are campaigning for it to go further.
Mr Conlon welcomed Mr Murphy's comments saying the family
had been living with a "stain on its character for 30 years".
Speaking today, he said that even after their release there
had been a "whispering campaign" that they had been let out
on technicalities.
"My father always thought we had been sacrificial lambs to
the judiciary to take pressure off the British police who at
that time, for whatever reason, were ignoring all the
evidence that pointed to other people who had bombed
Guildford and were attacking parts of London and my father
needed his name cleared."
"I think Tony Blair should stand at the despatch box and
issue a public apology hopefully til the family who will be
in the Houses of Parliament when he does issue that
apology," he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met the family last week and has said
he will raise the issue of a public apology when he meets Mr
Blair on Tuesday.
The Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven were later jailed
in connection with the Guildford bomb and other bombings in
Woolwich, south-east London.
Mr Conlon's father Guiseppe, who had a history of bronchial
problems, died in prison in 1980 while serving his sentence.
A number of MPs, church leaders, journalists and legal
figures raised concerns about the convictions.
In October 1989 the Court of Appeal quashed the sentences of
the Guildford Four, and in June 1991 it overturned the
sentences on the Maguire Seven.
Mr Conlon's case was highlighted in the Oscar-nominated film
In The Name Of The Father, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
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