A man wrongly convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings has died. Paddy Hill, who was one of the so-called Birmingham Six, convicted in 1975, of committing the bombings in the city centre on November 21, 1974, killing 21 people and injuring 182 more, has died aged 80.
The six men, Paddy Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker, had always maintained their innocence. They were released from prison on March 14, 1991, following a Home Secretary case referral to the Court of Appeal, with their convictions quashed.
Hill along with the five other men spent more than 16 years in jail for a crime they did not commit. He founded the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation in 2001 to help innocent people who are in prison.
Read more: Birmingham pub bombings 50 years on – what’s happened since the tragedy
And the organisation confirmed the 80-year-old’s death on Monday (December 30) on its Facebook page. In a statement, it said: “It is with great sorrow Paddy died this morning peacefully at home.
“Our condolences to his family at this sad time. We ask that you respect the family’s privacy. May he rest in eternal peace.”
The Birmingham Six (left to right) John Walker, Paddy Hill. Hugh Callaghan, Chris Mullen MP, Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter and William Power, outside the Old Bailey in London in 1991, after their convictions were quashed
(Image: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire)
The Birmingham pub bombings, which marked their 50th anniversary just two months ago, remain Britain’s biggest unsolved mass murder investigation. Bombs were places at the Mulberry Bush by the Rotunda and the Tavern in the Town in New Street and went off at 8.25pm and 8.27pm.
Mr Hill is the third of the Birmingham Six to die, following the deaths of Richard McIlkenny in May 2006 and Hugh Callaghan in May last year.