Never-seen-before interviews with the late Gerry Conlon are to feature in a new documentary on the Guilford Four to be screened 50 years on from the deadly IRA bombings in England that led to one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
Irish-language documentary Ceathrar Guildford: 50 bliain na mbréag (The Guildford Four: 50 years of lies), will be screened on TG4 next week, and will examine the notorious case that led to four young Irish people spending 15 years in prison for a crime they did not commit.
Among the four was west Belfast man Gerry Conlon, whose story was told in Oscar-nominated 1993 film In the Name of the Father, in which he was portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis.
Mr Conlon died at the age of 60 in 2014 following a battle with cancer.
He, along with Paul Hill, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson were sentenced to life for convictions including murder following a trail in 1975 over the IRA bombing of two pubs in Guilford in Surrey.
The blasts in October 1974 killed five people including four British soldiers, and injured 65 others.
The four’s wrongful convictions were finally overturned in 1989 and they were released from prison, including Mr Hill on bail pending appeal over the 1974 murder of soldier Brian Shaw in Belfast. Mr Hill’s conviction over that killing was quashed in 1994.
- Sister of Gerry Conlon to sue PSNI and Surrey PoliceOpens in new window
- New documentary shares life story of the Guildford Four’s Gerry ConlonOpens in new window
- Play on life of Guildford Four man Gerry Conlon finally takes to Belfast stageOpens in new window
- Johnny Depp describes Gerry Conlon as his 'long lost brother'Opens in new window
The documentary, produced by Belfast’s Below the Radar TV, features contributions from Paddy Armstrong, along with never-before-seen interviews with Gerry Conlon.
It also looks at the campaign by Mr Conlon’s sister Bridie Brennan, who is taking legal action against the PSNI - as the successor force to the RUC - and Surrey Police, for conspiracy to wrongfully arrest, detention, interrogate and charge of her brother.
The new documentary’s director, Sinéad Ingoldsby, said she will “never forget the jubilation” felt when the convictions of the Guilford Four were quashed and they were released.
“What I didn’t realise was how the British justice system was aware of their innocence even before they were convicted and how high up the chain the criminal corruption that kept them in prison for 15 years went,” she said.
“Fifty years on, those intimately involved in the case are struggling to cope with the trauma of what happened to them. They are still fighting for justice and the cover up continues. The case has significant ramifications for new ‘suspect communities’ and that is why it is still important to tell this story today.”
The documentary will be broadcast on TG4 next Wednesday, December 11, at 9.30pm.
It follows last year’s RTÉ documentary on the case, In the Name of Gerry Conlon, which featured the final recorded interview with Mr Conlon before his death.
