Gerry Conlon - Wikipedia

Gerard "Gerry" Conlon (1 March 1954 – 21 June 2014) was an Irish man known for being one of the Guildford Four who spent 15 years in prison after being ... GerryConlon FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch Irishmanwronglyconvictedofterrorism GerryConlonConlonoutsidetheCourtofAppealatthetimeofhisreleaseBornGerardConlon(1954-03-01)1March1954[1]Belfast,NorthernIrelandDied21June2014(2014-06-21)(aged 60)Belfast,NorthernIrelandCriminalcharge(s)Guildfordpubbombingson5October1974[2]CriminalpenaltyConvictedon22October1975andsentencedtolifeimprisonment[2]CriminalstatusConvictionquashedbyCourtofAppealon19October1989[2] Gerard"Gerry"Conlon(1March1954–21June2014)wasanIrishmanknownforbeingoneoftheGuildfordFourwhospent15yearsinprisonafterbeingwronglyconvictedofbeingaProvisionalIRAbomber. Contents 1Biography 2Death 3References 4Furtherreading 5Externallinks Biography[edit] GerardConlonwasborninBelfastandgrewupat7PeelStreetonthecornerofMaryStreetintheimpoverishedbutclose-knitcommunityoftheLowerFallsRoad.[3]Hedescribedhischildhoodashappy.HisfatherwasGiuseppeConlon,afactoryworker,andhismotherwasSarahConlon,ahospitalcleaner.[4] In1974,atage20,ConlonwenttoEnglandtoseekworkandtoescapetheeverydayviolencehewasencounteringonthestreetsofBelfast.HewaslivingwithagroupofsquattersinLondonwhenhewasarrestedfortheGuildfordpubbombings,whichoccurredon5Octoberthesameyear.[5] Conlon,alongwithfellowIrishmenPaulHillandPaddyArmstrongandEnglishwomanCaroleRichardson,knownastheGuildfordFour,[6]wereconvictedon22October1975ofplantingtwobombsayearearlierintheSurreytownofGuildford,whichkilledfivepeopleandinjureddozensmore.[2]Thefourweresentencedtolifeinprison.[2]Attheirtrialthejudgetoldthedefendants,"Ifhangingwerestillanoptionyouwouldhavebeenexecuted."[5] Conloncontinuedtoprotesthisinnocence,insistingthatpolicehadtorturedhimintomakingafalseconfession.On19October1989,[2] hispositionwasvindicatedwhentheGuildfordFourwerefreedaftertheCourtofAppealinLondonruledthatpolicehadfabricatedthehandwritteninterrogationnotesusedintheconviction.CrucialevidenceprovingConloncouldnothavecarriedoutthebombingshadbeenheldbackbythepolicefromtheoriginaltrial.[5]Mostnotably,thepolicefalselyclaimedthattheyhadbeenunabletolocateCharlesBurke,ahomelessmanwhoConlonhadbeenusingdrugswithinalocalparkatthetimeofthebombings.[7] AgroupofConlon'srelatives,collectivelyknownastheMaguireSeven,wereconvictedofbeingpartofthebombingcampaignandalsospentdecadesinprison.Amongthemwashisfather,Giuseppe,whohadtravelledtoLondonfromBelfasttohelphissonmountalegaldefence,andwhodiedinprisonin1980.In1991theMaguireSevenwerealsoexonerated.[5]Scientistshadfalselyassertedthatthehandsofeachdefendanthadtestedpositivefornitroglycerine.[4] MichaelMansfieldQCgivesthefirstGerryConlonMemorialLectureatSt.Mary'sCollegeBelfastinJanuary2015 AfteremergingfromtheCourtofAppealasafreeman,Conlonsaid:"IhavebeeninprisonforsomethingIdidnotdo.Iamtotallyinnocent.TheMaguireSevenareinnocent.Let'shopetheBirminghamSixarefreed."ConlonwasrepresentedbyhumanrightslawyerGarethPeirce,whoalsosecuredthereleaseoftheBirminghamSix. ConlondescribedhisexperienceofinjusticeinhisbookProvedInnocent(1990).[8]Afterthat,hebecamealeadingcharacterinthefilmIntheNameoftheFather(1993),inwhichhewasportrayedbyactorDanielDay-Lewis.[9] Afterhisreleasefromprison,Conlonhadproblemsadjustingtocivilianlife,sufferingtwonervousbreakdowns,attemptingsuicide,andbecomingaddictedtoalcoholandotherdrugs.HeeventuallyrecoveredandbecameacampaigneragainstvariousmiscarriagesofjusticeintheUnitedKingdomandaroundtheworld.[5]GerryConlonalsomadeacameoappearanceinthefilmFace(1997)alongsideRobertCarlyle. Death[edit] Conlonbattledwithlungcancerforaperiodbeforehisdeathon21June2014inhisnativeBelfast.[5][9] References[edit] ^McKee,Grant;Franey,Ros(1998).TimeBomb:IrishBombers,EnglishJusticeandtheGuildfordFour.BloomsburyPublishing.p. 102.ISBN 978-0747500995. ^abcdef"GuildfordFourpubbombingfiles'showfreshevidence'".BBC.Retrieved31March2018. ^"GerryConlonhadn'tanounceofrepublicanisminhim,saysbiographerandboyhoodpal".BelfastTelegraph.Retrieved19November2018. ^ab"GerryConlonobituary".TheGuardian.Retrieved24June2014. ^abcdef"GerryConlon,wrongfullyimprisonedforIRAattack,diesat60".TheGlobeandMail(fromNewYorkTimesNewsService).Archivedfromtheoriginalon23June2014.Retrieved24June2014. ^RossFraney(18October1989)."Trialanderror".TheGuardian.Retrieved21October2020. ^"READING[****]".www.victormorales13.com. ^Conlon,Gerry(4August1990).Provedinnocent :thestoryofGerryConlonoftheGuilfordFour/.HamishHamilton.ISBN 9780241130650. ^ab"GerryConlondiesaged60ofcancer".BigNewsNetwork.Retrieved24June2014. Furtherreading[edit] TheGuardian,Obituary22June2014 TheGuardian,GuildfordFour'sGerryConlondiesofcancerinBelfast,aged60,22June2014 Externallinks[edit] GerryConlonatIMDb BelfastTelegrapharticle Standardarticle vteMiscarriageofjusticeintheUKAccused1930s WilliamHerbertWallace 1950s DerekBentley TimothyEvans MahmoodHusseinMattan 1970s MurderofMaxwellConfait BirminghamSix PaulBlackburn BridgewaterFour AndrewEvans GuildfordFourandMaguireSeven GerryConlon StephenDowning StefanKiszko JudithWard RobertBrown 1980s CardiffNewsagentThree KiranjitAhluwalia SeanHodgson MichaelShirley TottenhamThree WinstonSilcott WestMidlandsSeriousCrimeSquad WinchesterThree 1990s CardiffThree DonnaAnthony SallyClark EmmaHumphreys M25Three RaphaelRowe VictorNealon SaraThornton 2000s AngelaCannings BarryGeorge SamHallam SiônJenkins Sub-postmastersoperatingthePostOfficeHorizoncomputersystem Issues Miscarriageofjustice ListofmiscarriageofjusticecasesintheUnitedKingdom Institutions WestMidlandsSeriousCrimeSquad PoliceComplaintsAuthority Review CriminalCasesReviewCommission Related JulieBindel SarahClarke SarahConlon ChrisMullin GarethPeirce ClareShort SouthallBlackSisters HarrietWistrich AuthoritycontrolGeneral IntegratedAuthorityFile(Germany) ISNI 1 VIAF 1 WorldCat Nationallibraries Spain UnitedStates Japan CzechRepublic Netherlands Other FacetedApplicationofSubjectTerminology SUDOC(France) 1 Trove(Australia) 1 Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerry_Conlon&oldid=1057256253" Categories:1954births2014deathsDeathsfromcancerinNorthernIrelandOverturnedconvictionsintheUnitedKingdomPeopleacquittedofmurderPeoplefromBelfastPeoplewrongfullyconvictedofmurderHiddencategories:ArticleswithshortdescriptionShortdescriptionisdifferentfromWikidataEngvarBfromMay2017UsedmydatesfromMay2017ArticleswithhCardsArticleswithGNDidentifiersArticleswithISNIidentifiersArticleswithVIAFidentifiersArticleswithWORLDCATIDidentifiersArticleswithBNEidentifiersArticleswithLCCNidentifiersArticleswithNDLidentifiersArticleswithNKCidentifiersArticleswithNTAidentifiersArticleswithFASTidentifiersArticleswithSUDOCidentifiersArticleswithTroveidentifiers Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk Variants expanded collapsed Views ReadEditViewhistory More expanded collapsed Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Languages CatalàDeutschEspañolFrançais한국어Italiano日本語Српски/srpskiSuomi Editlinks