GERRY Conlon, who was wrongly convicted of the IRA’s Guildford pub bombing in
1974, has died aged 60.
He spent 15 years in prison along with the rest of the Guildford Four but they
all had their convictions quashed in 1989 by the Court of Appeal.
The attack killed five people and injured 65.
Mr Conlon, who died at his home in the Falls Road area of Belfast after a
lengthy illness, was later played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the hit film In The
Name Of The Father.
His family said in a statement: “This morning we lost our Gerry. He brought
life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest
hours.
“He helped us to survive what we were not meant to survive.
“We recognise that what he achieved by fighting for justice for us had a
far, far greater importance – it forced the world’s closed eyes to be opened
to injustice; it forced unimaginable wickedness to be acknowledged; we
believe it changed the course of history.”
Alex Attwood, SDLP Stormont Assembly member for the area, added: “What he
learned from his time in prison and campaign for release was the importance
of not only raging against his own injustice but fighting for those who had
also suffered miscarriages of justice.”
In 2009 Mr Conlon wrote about the personal and emotional battles he suffered
as a result of his incarceration and fight for freedom.
He suffered two breakdowns, attempted suicide and became addicted to drugs and
alcohol following his release.
The jailing of Conlon and the other members of the Guildford Four – Paddy
Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson – is considered the biggest
miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
They were jailed for life in 1975 for the devastating attack on the Horse and
Groom pub in the Surrey town which killed four soldiers and a civilian.
But they were freed in October 1989 after the Court of Appeal quashed their
sentences amid doubts raised about the police evidence against them.
An investigation by Avon and Somerset Police found serious flaws in the way
Surrey Police handled the case.