MOJO
  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Comment
  • Testimonials
  • Donate
5101
December 2 2020

Guildford inquest – police applied to keep files hidden

Euan News

From the BBC News website, today (2 December) the following article reports that the police force investigating the Guildford pub bombs actively applied for the relevant files to stay hidden. They were due to be opened this year.

Papers show that Surrey Police “submitted an application for the material to remain closed”, which was also on behalf of the Metropolitan Police and Avon and Somerset Police, which had files in archive.

The police force investigating the Guildford pub bombs has been accused of a conflict of interest after it took legal action to keep archives closed.

More than 700 files on the 1974 IRA bombs had been due to open this year but were retained by the Home Office.

Inquest papers have shown Surrey Police applied for the files to stay closed.

A retired lawyer said police, who are compiling archives for the inquest, had a conflict of interest. Police said it was an independent government decision.

Two bombs went off in Guildford on 5 October 1974, killing five people and injuring 65.

Eleven people – the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven – were wrongly-convicted. Files from an inquiry by retired judge Sir John May have remained closed for decades.

In December 2019, the Home Office retained the files because of “any impact… on future inquest proceedings and investigations”.

Papers showed Surrey Police “submitted an application for the material to remain closed” which was also on behalf of the Met Police and Avon and Somerset Police, which had files in the archive.

Alastair Logan, who represented the Guildford Four, said Surrey Police’s action was not publicly known, adding: “It supports the contention KRW Law put down that there is a conflict of interest in whether they are dealing with it from a Surrey Police point of view and not from the point of view of the inquest.”

KRW Law is representing the family of Ann Hamilton, who was killed in the attacks.

A Surrey Police report said the closure was “not for an indefinite period and will last for three years”, adding the National Archives had requested an update next July.

However, Mr Logan said he was informed of closures from 75 to 100 years, adding: “The three-year closure is something which has never been mentioned before and… needs to be explained.”

(L-R) Soldiers Caroline Slater, 18, Ann Hamilton, 19, William Forsyth, 18, John Hunter, 17, and plasterer Paul Craig, 21
Four soldiers and a civilian died in the first explosion at the Horse and Groom

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said the Home Office contacted the force regarding a review.

She said: “Surrey Police sought the appropriate legal advice, which was submitted to the Home Office, which made an independent decision that the archive material should remain closed.

“The coroner has been fully sighted throughout this ongoing process.”

Of 700-odd files, two were thought to be relevant to the hearing by junior counsel to the inquest Matthew Flinn.

They included a schedule of IRA incidents in London and “witnesses commenting on whether links could be drawn” between bombing incidents.

In his provisional scope, coroner Richard Travers said he did not agree the inquest should look at the wider IRA campaign. He also refused an active role to Guildford Four member Paddy Armstrong.

Mr Logan said: “If they are looking at links [between bombs], this is against the coroner’s scope – and therefore there are relevant interests for those who were denied interested person’s status.”

(L-R) Gerry Conlon (1991), Patrick Armstrong (1991), Paul Hill (1989), Carole Richardson (1989)
The wrongly convicted Guildford Four served 15 years in jail

At a pre-inquest review on Wednesday, Fiona Barton QC, representing Surrey Police, told the coroner: “The reality of the National Archives material is it’s closed to members of the public. It’s not closed to members of your team.”

She told Mr Travers: “Your team has unrestricted access and the implication that there is something sinister about the fact that material remains closed is terribly misleading. It undermines the transparency of this inquest.”

Mr Travers replied that his team had access to every document that exists and he said whether papers were relevant “ultimately will be up to me to decide”.

He said: “There is no closed material. We have access to everything. This is an open inquest and it must be seen as such.”

Counsel to the inquest Oliver Sanders QC said it was now known that were around 300 statements from about 200 witnesses, many of whom were still alive, that were potentially relevant material.

He said many of those statements gave similar accounts – that “there was a hissing noise and there was an explosion and then things went black and there was chaos”.

A further pre-inquest review is to be held on 29 March.

Pat Finucane – No Public Inquiry International Human Rights Day

Related Posts

Guildford 4

News

Birmingham bombings inquest whitewash repeated at Guildford

The decision by the coroner at the Birmingham bombings inquest to exclude from scrutiny the very matters that might have allowed the victims’ families some degree of closure – a decision that also denied justice to Paddy Hill and the other unwitting victims of the atrocity – rendered that exercise effectively pointless and, depending on […]

3990

News

Prisoners denied access to forensic evidence in bid to prove their innocence

For miscarriage of justice victims looking to overturn their wrongful convictions, one of the most significant challenges they encounter is the refusal of police and Crown to allow access to crucial evidence that could fatally undermine the case against them. From The Guardian online yesterday (10 July), we reproduce an interesting article that highlights this […]

community

News

MOJO Community Project Launches

The MOJO Aftercare and Reintegration Team are pleased to report the successful, long-awaited launch of our MOJO Community Project. The MOJO Community is an extension of our client-led reintegration programme which aims to bring clients together to seek to mitigate the consequences of wrongful imprisonment and to offer an alternative to commonly encountered feelings of […]

Latest Tweets

  • We reproduce this article by Samuel Osbourne from the Independant 30 May 2019. mojoscotland.org/carbon-credits…
    4 years ago
  • We reproduce here a worrying piece from the Guardian from 29 May 2019 by Sian Cain about austerity and it’s potenti… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    4 years ago
  • There is a debate on going regarding the not proven verdict in Scotland. In an article from the Times, Gordon Jacks… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
    4 years ago
→ Follow us

Archives

Search

  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Contact
  • Comment
  • Testimonials
  • Privacy Notice
© Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Scotland) 2023 - Company No SC239555 - Registered Charity No SC033820 The work of MOJO is financially supported by the Scottish Government