Guildford pub bombings police criticised after new lead emerges

Gerry Conlon, seen here with his sisters outside the Old Bailey, was freed in 1989

A lawyer for four people wrongly accused over the 1974 Guildford pub bombings has criticised police after new evidence emerged on the attack.

Lawyer Alastair Logan said the timing of Surrey Police revealing the lead was "another attempt to avoid public scrutiny" on the Guildford Four.

Officers will not launch a fresh inquiry before a new law comes in that would help shield perpetrators.

Surrey Police have not yet responded to the criticism.

However, the force said it remained committed to helping to achieve justice for the families of the five people who were killed in the bombings.

Detectives had told families of victims that they had "identified a potential forensic line of enquiry and the next step would be a new criminal investigation", lawyers said.

However, KRW Law said Surrey Police had stated it was not advancing any further investigations before the commencement of the Northern Ireland Legacy Act on 1 May. The act allows those involved with the conflict to seek immunity from prosecution.

Four soldiers and a civilian died in the blast in Guildford's Horse and Groom pub in October 1974.

Another bomb detonated 30 minutes later at the Seven Stars.

The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were wrongly-convicted for the attacks in one of the UK's biggest miscarriages of justice. The Guildford Four were jailed for murder in 1975 and the Maguire Seven were convicted on explosives charges the following year.

Wrongly convicted Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong, Paul Hill and Carole Richardson served 15 years in jail

Mr Logan said: "The information given by Surrey Police has all the hallmarks of yet another attempt to prevent public scrutiny."

He said that police "had evidence in 1974-5 that demonstrated that the Four were innocent" but actively concealed it.

The criticism follows a plea for answers by the family of victim Ann Hamilton, who was a 19-year-old soldier when Guildford was hit.

Ann's sister Cassandra Hamilton and her lawyers said there were questions over the nature of the new evidence, how long police have had it, when decisions were made and whether the force could and should continue its investigation.

The other people who died in the attack were 21-year-old civilian Paul Craig and soldiers Caroline Slater, 18, William Forsyth, 18, and John Hunter, 17. Sixty-five people were injured.

The IRA's Balcombe Street unit admitted carrying out the Guildford and Woolwich attacks in the 1970s, but no-one else was prosecuted after the Guildford Four's release in 1989. The BBC has been shown, confidentially, the IRA confessions.

'How long?'

Bridie Brennan, sister of wrongly-jailed Gerry Conlon, said police should reveal the nature of the evidence now.

Mrs Brennan, 67, said: "It's almost 50 years and the longer it goes on, the more people are not going to be around here on this earth.

"How long are we going to wait just to find out whether we are going to get the truth?"

She asked how long it would take for police to reveal the new lead, adding: "They should say what evidence they have found."

Gerry Conlon died in June 2014 aged 60 and Carole Richardson died of cancer aged 55. Paddy Armstrong continued to call for papers on IRA files to be released. Paul Hill has spoken to the BBC about his wrongful imprisonment in the past.

(Clockwise from top left) Paul Craig, 21, Caroline Slater, 18, John Hunter, 17, William Forsyth, 18, Ann Hamilton, 19, died in an explosion at the Horse and Groom

The Guildford Four served 15 years before they were freed. Mrs Brennan's father, Guiseppe Conlon, one of the Maguire Seven, died in jail.

Surrey Police said in November 2022, that following consultation with Counter Terrorism Policing, it was agreed its new line of inquiry should be progressed.

Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said police were aware of draft legislation but continued to assess the case after an inquest concluded in 2022, and submitted items for forensic analysis.

He said forensic results came back in August 2023, but the enactment of the Legacy Act a month later meant there was "no prospect of reaching the stage of prosecution by the deadline of 1 May".