Sub-series 36 - Birmingham Six, Guildford Four, Maguire Family

3 files

The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice. The Guildford Four were wrongly convicted of bombings carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA); the Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted of handling explosives found during the investigation into the bombings. Both groups' convictions were eventually declared "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and reversed in 1989 and 1991 respectively after they had served up to 15–16 years in prison.

The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Court of Appeal on 14 March 1991. The six men were later awarded financial compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.

Material is arranged across three files: P143/1/2/36/1 relates to the Annie Maguire case, P143/1/2/36/2 relates to the Birmingham 6 and the Guildford Four cases and P143/1/2/36/3 consists of related cuttings.

[Archivist's note 1: It is unclear how much involvement Mary Robinson had in these cases apart from giving legal opinion on Annie Maguire case, giving interviews on behalf of the Birmingham 6 and chairing public events. It is clear she followed the cases closely.

Note 2: Regina in Law means Queen and represents UK Crown or State in case].

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