One of the Guildford Four has said a coroner could end the secrecy over pub bombing that killed five people in 1974.
A pre-inquest review is being held to look at resuming a full inquest after original proceedings were never concluded. Five were killed and 65 were injured when the IRA blew up two pubs in Guildford.
Paddy Armstrong was wrongly convicted in 1975 and he said that he would be there on behalf of the wrongly-convicted four. He said they were kept in jail for 15 years and he wants to know why.
Soldiers Ann Hamilton, 19, Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, and John Hunter, 17, plus plasterer Paul Craig, 21 died following the first blast at the Horse and Groom on 5 October.
Four-man IRA unit known as the “Balcombe Street gang” claimed responsibility in 1976 but were not charged. Over the years it has been debated about how many members were in the unit, a court transcript suggested up to 20 members.
The case of the Guildford Four had become known as one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
Mr Armstrong, now 68 said: “I want to know why I was in prison for 15 years when those who did it were never charged with it,”
“We had been in prison a year when the Balcombe Street gang admitted it and said innocent people were in jail… What are they hiding?”
He said he believed an inquiry by Surrey coroner Richard Travers “might get some answers”.
The Guildford Four and bombing.
October 5th, 1974.
Two IRA bombs went off in two pubs that were packed with Saturday night drinkers. Many were soldiers who were back from duty in Northern Ireland. The first bomb went of at 2030 BSTR at the Horse and Groom pub, destroying the front of the building and shattering the windows of shops beside. The second bomb went off half an hour later in the nearby Seven Stars pub. Both were IRA bombs, the bomb at the first pub was thought to be a 10lb of nitroglycerin, hidden under a bench seat in the corner of a pub, it was powered by a battery and had a stopwatch as a timer. The Horse and Groom pub was said to be a cheap pub where everyone would go first, they would then move on to the Seven Stars pub where it was more of a disco it is believed this is why it was the second pub to be bombed. A member of public made the first 999 call at 2050 BST.
October 22, 1975.
The Guildford Four – Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson were jailed for life. Shortly after they were jailed, Police had caught four IRA gunmen who had threw a bomb at a restaurant. After six days of being surrounded they surrendered and gave some information on the Guilford bombing. When they were all interviewed by senior officers, two said they did the Guildford bombing. Met Police then called other officers/investigators and said “This is serious. We are very concerned that the wrong people may have been convicted”. Although Police failed to interview them about the Guildford bombing.
Towards the end of 1976
Cut out copies were sent to investigators from the interview notes of the two IRA gunmen, they contained the confessions. Interviews were made, and information was given to police that only people that had taken part would know, they described how the bomb was contained and described people next to them.
October 19, 1989.
After public protests the Guildford Four were released and cleared from all charges after 14 years in prison.
1993
Three Surrey Police officers were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over the handling of the cases. They were found not guilty.
9 February 2005
The current Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, formally apologises to the Guildford Four for the miscarriage of justice they suffered
A statement by Surrey Police said the force began work in 2017 to identify, preserve and schedule material it held on the pub bombings.
It said: “The case is not being re-investigated or made subject to a formal review at this time, however, once all the material held has been scheduled, an assessment will be carried out to consider whether there are any viable investigative opportunities,”.
“If any potential opportunities are identified, a comprehensive review would then be necessary.”
