’’I’ve spent 15 years in prison for something I haven’t done, for something I knew nothing about. I watched my father die in prison for something he didn’t do. He’s innocent, the Maguires are innocent, the Birmingham six are innocent. Lets hope they’re next.’’ Gerry Conlon uttered these words outside the Court of Appeal - the same court building that had 15 years earlier seen him, Paul Hill, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice this country has seen. They were to become known as the Guildford Four.
’’Proved Innocent’’ is Gerry Conlon’s account of his life before and after the trial of the Guildford Four. It also addresses the issues of how four innocent people were basically stitched up for this crime. It looks at how the Maguires and Gerry’s own father were arrested on charges of making the explosives for Guildford. It gives a damning account of our so-called justice system and the treatment that people can receive at the hands of the authorities. It is a compelling read: it’ll make you feel angry, and any faith you may have had in our so called justice system will be blown away. Gerry Conlon was brought up on the Lower Falls road in Belfast, his parents Guiseppe and Sarah were respectable people, who despaired at the antics of their oldest child. Gerry was a young tearaway, a petty thief who loved nothing better them to walk into a shop and brazenly walk out with half its stock under his arm. Gerry’s first memory is of falling of his granny’s back step into a bucket of hot water: as he poignantly put it from the age of two he always had his arse in hot water! From an early age he was in and out of bother, nothing major, just petty crime which on reflection he states he is rather ashamed of. Gerry’s parents are described as very gentle folk. His father Guiseppe was a pacifist. During the Second World War Guiseppe went AWOL, and was supposed to be sent back to England to rejoin the army. Guiseppe was put on a boat back to England, but as the boat was leaving Belfast he decided that he’d rather chance his luck in the bay than go back to fight: he jumped overboard and swam the mile back to land. Guiseppe was to catch TB whilst Gerry was a child, an illness from which he never really recovered. Gerry’s mother Sarah was a deeply religious woman who kept the family together.
In the late 1960s the policing of areas such as the lower falls was very much left in the hands of the IRA or as it is know locally the Ra. Gerry with his anti-social behaviour was soon to fall foul of them. In fact his family packed him off to stay with his Uncle in London on several occasions to escape the wrath of the Ra. The IRA was extremely fussy about who it recruited to its ranks, the likes of Gerry Conlon, a petty theif were not what they wanted as a member or on the streets of Belfast! In the summer of 1974, Gerry got a windfall from the criminal injuries board, due to an injury he suffered at the hands of a jealous fiancé! Mindful of what had happened the last time he’d had a load of money, Gerry decided to go to England. He took with him his girlfriend Eileen. On arrival in London, Gerry was unable to find anywhere to stay, so Eileen and him headed to stay with friends in Southampton. Whilst in Southampton Gerry met up with an old friend Paul Hill, after a few weeks his relationship with Eileen broke up mainly because of Gerry’s love of the horses and the beer. Paul and Gerry decided to head back up to the bright lights of London. They eventually ended up living in a hostel in Kilburn, where they met an acquaintance called Paddy Armstrong. Through various family connections the pair eventually found work on a building site. For the next few weeks their life took on a pattern of working Monday to Friday and out with the lads during the weekend.
One weekend Gerry and Paul went to their local haunt, to meet up with Gerry’s Uncle Hugh. That night Paul Hill also met Gerry’s Aunt - Annie Maguire. Annie was married to Gerry’s uncle Paddy. Gerry described the Maguires as an anglicised family - they had pictures of the Queen and Winston Churchill in the living room - an alien concept to a ’’good’’ catholic boy from the Falls. The Maquires had four children. During the course of the evening Paul, who had never met Annie before, chatted convivially about life in the area that they had both come from. This meeting was to change the course of Annie’s life and that of her family forever. Towards the autumn, Gerry robbed a house, something that he is not proud of, but as he said, it was probably the most serious crime that he had ever committed. Tinged with some remorse, and the fact that life had not panned out the way he had planned, he headed back home to Belfast. For about two to three weeks he led what he describes as ’’the quiet life’’. One Friday his father Guiseppe bumped into Lily Hill, Paul’s mother, who tells them that Paul had been lifted by the coppers in London. Lily is unsure as to why, and Gerry for once tells his Father that he hadn’t got a clue as to why. Later that night Gerry sees news reports about a man being arrested for the Guildford bombings - he instantly recognises his mate Paul. In the early hours of the morning Gerry was picked up by the police, he had not got a clue as to why he’d been arrested. Gerry was taken to a local police station in Belfast, and it was not until the middle of the next night was he to know why he was arrested. At about midnight, Gerry was asked if he knew a Paul Michael Hill, on stating that he did, he was punched in the face and the officer told him - Well you know why we’re here then. The violence and intimidation had only just started. Gerry was later transferred to the mainland and taken to Surrey for further questioning. The intimidation and violence was second to none. Questioned for hours, beaten up and threatened, deprived of sleep. After several days of this the police found Gerry’s Achilles heel: his family. He was told that the safety of his family was in his hands.
Gerry then wrote the statements that he believed he could retract, and that they would be shown for what they were: a cobbled together story written by a desperate man. By signing them he signed away 15 years of his life. The police officers kindly helped Gerry to write his confession, and he was even shown a copy of Paul Hill’s so-called confession. Why? comes to mind, why did Gerry make up these so called confessions, why did Paul Hill confess and implicate his friends and Gerry’s family? After days and nights of questioning, of physical violence, threats and intimidation its not suprising. Both men did it to save their loved ones from danger, both men confessed after countless beatings and sleep deprivation. Both men believed that in court they would be found innocent, this faith in British justice was to be painfully lost as was 15 years of their lives. The police officers who extracted these confessions were never found guilt of intimadation, falsifying and with holding evidence. They were allowed to get on with their lives and retire on comfortable pensions.
Back in Belfast it was Guiseppe Conlon who made the fateful journey to the mainland. Gentle Guiseppe, a pacifist, came to London to help his son out of a scrape. Guiseppe was never to return home again. Guiseppe was to be arrested... Read the book to find out more. A good book, which will move you.