Passing of Hugh Callaghan reminds that the travesty of miscarriages of justice remains with us

The recent death of Hugh Callaghan at the age of 93 brought back all the memories of the Irish miscarriages of justice of the 1970s. Hugh was one of six Irishmen who got wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974. Collectively they became known as the Birmingham Six It took 16 years of campaigning, that drew in Mps, bishops, cardinals, congressmen and lots of ordinary folk - including the men's families, to eventually establish their innocence. That day, in 1991, when the six walked free through the front door of the Court of Appeal was vindication for the men and all who worked so long and hard to secure their freedom. Hugh later wrote a book titled Cruel Fate, which told the story of the years of suffering. The graphic account of how the police, knowing Hugh was frightened of dogs, would let alsatians free in the cells, only calling them back at the last moment. The treatment of the six amounted in many ways to torture, seeking to force confessions out of them. The men were finally cleared but those responsible for their wrongful conviction were not held to account. In the Birmingham Six case, three middle ranking police officers were prosecuted but the cases collapsed. Indeed, the police seemed to spend a lot of time trying to prove that they were right all along. There were whispering campaigns, questioning the men's innocence. Even to this day the police have been pursuing veteran journalist and former MP Chris Mullin over his interview with one of the bombers. Mullin claimed journalistic confidentiality, regarding a source, which was recently upheld by the courts. Mullin played an outstanding role in securing the exoneration of the Birmingham Six and other innocent victims. He wrote the book Error of Judgement, as well as helping with the ground breaking ITV World in Action documentaries on the case. Mullin received much abuse over the years that he championed the cause. The campaigner then went on to pursue a successful career in Parliament, representing Sunderland South as an MP and rising to ministerial rank under Tony Blair. The former Sunderland South MP is also well known for his volumes of published diaries, depicting life in the corridors of Westminster. Witty and revealing, Mullin's diaries are regarded as amongst the best of recent times. Not that leaving Westminster in 2010, seems to have stopped the diarist in Mullin. He has just produced a highly entertaining volume covering the time after he left Parliament. Titled, Didn't you used to be Chris Mullin, the diaries take their title from a comment made to the author by another MP on a visit to Westminster. The diaries cover such events as Brexit, COVID and the rise and fall of Jeremy Corbyn. Indeed, Mullin castigates the way his fellow miscarriage of justice campaigner, Corbyn, has been treated by the Labour Party. So Mullin continues to write and campaign on issues that matter. For those victims of miscarriages of justice, life once back outside was not always easy. There was a populist view that the victims of miscarriages of justice all got handsomely compensated to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Little could be further from the truth. Most struggled with physical and mental health problems. Few ever worked again. I remember one member of the Birmingham Six saying how he could battle the Home Office and criminal justice system but dealing with the frictions in his own family was another matter altogether. Members of the Six did great campaigning work to set other innocent prisoners free. Billy Power named Prem Sivalingham and Sam Kulasingham, known as the East Ham Two, amongst the innocent. They were cleared of murder in 1994. Billy also campaigned for Irishman Frank Johnson, who was eventually cleared in 2002, after serving 26 years for a murder he didn't commit. Paddy Hill helped establish the excellent Miscarriage of Justice Organisation (mojo), which campaigns across the criminal justice system. Hugh Callaghan was the oldest of the Six. After, giving his account of what happened in Cruel Fate, Hugh faded from the public spotlight getting on as best he could with family life It is more than 30 years now since the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four, Judith Ward and others were freed but their legacy lives on. There are better systems now for those wrongly convicted. The establishment in the mid 1990s of the Criminal Cases Review Commission created a resourced process to look again at cases. This was a direct result of the Irish miscarriage of justice cases. There are though still many innocent people routinely convicted and incarcerated for crimes they did not commit. Those caught up in such injustice always end up paying a heavy price. No amount of compensation can make up for the loss of liberty. What is important though is that the innocent victims are not forgotten. Lawyers like Gareth Peirce, MPs like Chris Mullin, campaigners and dedicated journalists all have a role to play in setting the innocent free and holding wrong doers to account. Hugh Callaghan RIP. * Did you not used to be Chris Mullin is published by Biteback Publishing, £20