March 14 - Release of the Birmingham Six from Prison

This Day in History: 14 March 2020

 

14 March 1991

 

29 years ago, today, the British authorities released the 'Birmingham Six' after widespread questioning of their guilt. These were six Irish men, who were sent to prison 16 years prior, for the 1974 terrorist bombings of two Birmingham pubs. On November 21, 1974, two bombs belonging to the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, exploded on two pubs in Birmingham, resulting in the deaths of 21 people, and the injuries of hundreds. These attacks were part of the conflict between the British government and the IRA over the status of Northern Ireland's independence. Days after these bombings, the British government forbade the IRA from entering the whole of the United Kingdom, and an arrest was rushed to the IRA members responsible. Six suspects were arrested, and interrogated, where four of them confessed. However, the IRA declared that the six were not members.

 

During their trial, those convicted pleaded innocent, and claimed that the police had beaten the confessions out of them, however prosecutors denied this, and provided forensic evidence that would prove the guilt of the Birmingham Six. As a result, they were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. In 1985, scientists deemed the evidence as unreliable, and a judge came to the same conclusion two years later. It was not until this day, as people across Britain and Ireland called for their release, that the Birmingham Six were freed. Seven years later, their sentences were formally overturned, due to doubts about the police evidence, and the suspects' treatment while facing interrogation.

 

Want to find out more about the Birmingham Six, and their wrongful accusation and sentence? Click here for more information.