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Error of Judgement
Error of Judgment lit a fire under the establishment when it was first published, shattering the prosecution case against six Irishmen charged with the Birmingham Bombings and going on to change the course of British legal history.
On the evening of 21st November 1974, bombs planted by the IRA in two crowded Birmingham pubs exploded, killing 21 people and injuring at least 170. Within a day of the explosion, six men - Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, Billy Power, Johnny Walker and Hughie Callaghan - were arrested and charged. All were found guilty.
Methodically, with total clarity and a tone that is both gripping and impassioned, then investigative journalist Mullin unpicked every detail of the case, revealing gaping holes in the prosecution case and the horrifying consequences of an establishment determined to close ranks.
Now 50 years on from the Birmingham Bombings and with new writing from Mullin, this classic edition of Error of Judgement tells the complete story of one of the most significant miscarriages of justice ever. As relevant now as it was when it was first published, it's an essential text on corruption, violence and bias in British policing and justice.
On the evening of 21st November 1974, bombs planted by the IRA in two crowded Birmingham pubs exploded, killing 21 people and injuring at least 170. Within a day of the explosion, six men - Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, Billy Power, Johnny Walker and Hughie Callaghan - were arrested and charged. All were found guilty.
Methodically, with total clarity and a tone that is both gripping and impassioned, then investigative journalist Mullin unpicked every detail of the case, revealing gaping holes in the prosecution case and the horrifying consequences of an establishment determined to close ranks.
Now 50 years on from the Birmingham Bombings and with new writing from Mullin, this classic edition of Error of Judgement tells the complete story of one of the most significant miscarriages of justice ever. As relevant now as it was when it was first published, it's an essential text on corruption, violence and bias in British policing and justice.
464 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2024
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8 people want to read
About the author
Chris Mullin
52 books29 followersChris Mullin is the former MP for Sunderland South, a journalist and author. His books include the first volume of his acclaimed diaries, A View From the Foothills. He also wrote the thriller, A Very British Coup, with the television version winning BAFTA and Emmy awards. He was a minister in three departments, Environment, Transport and Regions, International Development and The Foreign Office.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 5, 2024
I recently heard an episode of a history podcast which was discussing whether 1974 was the most depressing year in 'recent' British history. I think it was.
There was - an oil crisis, the three day week, economic stagflation, political instability (a declining Harold Wilson and an inept Ted Heath running things), the growing trouble in Northern Ireland, the Winter of Discontent, a feeling of grim reality after the optimistic Sixties had ended, national prestige at an all-time low ('the sick man of Europe'). Horrible times.
It wasn't even much better elsewhere - Hollywood was churning out content that reflected the paranoia of an America which was watching Watergate unfurl, and coming to terms with a post-Vietnam humbling, as its cities declined into crime and decay.
Whilst all this was going on, the IRA had moved its bombing campaign to the British 'mainland' - largely damaging property rather than people, until one night in November 1974 when bombs were placed in two pubs in Birmingham, killing 21 people, then the largest mass murder in British history.
I grew up in Birmingham in the 1970s and 80s, and this event caused a social schism in the city - a place with a large Irish population, a city of immigrants who largely (by the terms of those times) lived successfully side by side - turned in on itself as it came to terms with what had happened. For years after the bombings, the city centre was a social desert, nobody wanted to be there of a night because it was a place horrible things had happened.
50 years later, the scar remains. Why? Because the people who did it have never been brought to justice. And why haven't they? Largely because the city's police force had decided to fit-up the first group of Irishmen they could find who fitted their profile of who they thought had done it.
First published decades ago, this is the grim story of the large scale failure of the legal system of a first world nation.
It's the story of a police force out of control, a police force which mentally abused, tortured and humiliated six men who had committed no crime. A police force which lied, which took valueless forced confessions of guilt, which systemically fabricated evidence, and which continued to do so for years after to keep these men in jail.
Worse than that, though, it is also the story of a legal system which closed in to protect itself.
A legal system which thought it acceptable to keep in prison men who were clearly innocent, because to admit there were not guilty would deliver too much damage to belief in the system.
To make things worse, that's not just an assumption, that's something which was actually said by the country's senior legal officer at the time - it really was considered acceptable to actually *say* those things, not just think them.
After 17 years in prison, years in which, after a while, even the people guarding the men didn't think they were guilty, they were released and allowed to pick up what was left of their lives.
Chris Mullin, a journalist turned MP, picked up the case of the Six and persistently documented what had happened, kept pulling at the thread until the whole thing fell apart. In what I assume was an update, he also outlines just how systemic the abuse and misconduct was in the serious crimes branch of the West Midlands Police force - physical abuse and forced confessions were not limited to the Birmingham Six, there were far more innocent people in prison as a result of their misconduct.
This book is a brilliantly written account of what happened after that horrible night in Birmingham, updated when the Six were released, and then again years after, to reveal the names of (at least some of) the actual bombers.
And therein lies the extent of the tragedy - men tortured and thrown in prison for 17 years, but also the evil bombers who committed the crimes allowed to remain free, to enjoy their lives, whilst the families of those killed never achieve justice.
It would be nice to think the country had learned something from this, but unfortunately, as the men were released in 1991, another equally revolting story of police abuse and lying, backed up by a compliant media, had already been in motion for two years following the Hillsborough disaster. Another story of lies, of a system protecting itself at all costs as justice remained undone, another one which would go on for decades.
This is a compelling read, it is by turns shocking, depressing and genuinely upsetting, but it is a book which needs to be read to understand much of how British society became what it is today (and, sadly, how much it still has to learn).
Yes, 1974 really was a terrible, terrible year.
There was - an oil crisis, the three day week, economic stagflation, political instability (a declining Harold Wilson and an inept Ted Heath running things), the growing trouble in Northern Ireland, the Winter of Discontent, a feeling of grim reality after the optimistic Sixties had ended, national prestige at an all-time low ('the sick man of Europe'). Horrible times.
It wasn't even much better elsewhere - Hollywood was churning out content that reflected the paranoia of an America which was watching Watergate unfurl, and coming to terms with a post-Vietnam humbling, as its cities declined into crime and decay.
Whilst all this was going on, the IRA had moved its bombing campaign to the British 'mainland' - largely damaging property rather than people, until one night in November 1974 when bombs were placed in two pubs in Birmingham, killing 21 people, then the largest mass murder in British history.
I grew up in Birmingham in the 1970s and 80s, and this event caused a social schism in the city - a place with a large Irish population, a city of immigrants who largely (by the terms of those times) lived successfully side by side - turned in on itself as it came to terms with what had happened. For years after the bombings, the city centre was a social desert, nobody wanted to be there of a night because it was a place horrible things had happened.
50 years later, the scar remains. Why? Because the people who did it have never been brought to justice. And why haven't they? Largely because the city's police force had decided to fit-up the first group of Irishmen they could find who fitted their profile of who they thought had done it.
First published decades ago, this is the grim story of the large scale failure of the legal system of a first world nation.
It's the story of a police force out of control, a police force which mentally abused, tortured and humiliated six men who had committed no crime. A police force which lied, which took valueless forced confessions of guilt, which systemically fabricated evidence, and which continued to do so for years after to keep these men in jail.
Worse than that, though, it is also the story of a legal system which closed in to protect itself.
A legal system which thought it acceptable to keep in prison men who were clearly innocent, because to admit there were not guilty would deliver too much damage to belief in the system.
To make things worse, that's not just an assumption, that's something which was actually said by the country's senior legal officer at the time - it really was considered acceptable to actually *say* those things, not just think them.
After 17 years in prison, years in which, after a while, even the people guarding the men didn't think they were guilty, they were released and allowed to pick up what was left of their lives.
Chris Mullin, a journalist turned MP, picked up the case of the Six and persistently documented what had happened, kept pulling at the thread until the whole thing fell apart. In what I assume was an update, he also outlines just how systemic the abuse and misconduct was in the serious crimes branch of the West Midlands Police force - physical abuse and forced confessions were not limited to the Birmingham Six, there were far more innocent people in prison as a result of their misconduct.
This book is a brilliantly written account of what happened after that horrible night in Birmingham, updated when the Six were released, and then again years after, to reveal the names of (at least some of) the actual bombers.
And therein lies the extent of the tragedy - men tortured and thrown in prison for 17 years, but also the evil bombers who committed the crimes allowed to remain free, to enjoy their lives, whilst the families of those killed never achieve justice.
It would be nice to think the country had learned something from this, but unfortunately, as the men were released in 1991, another equally revolting story of police abuse and lying, backed up by a compliant media, had already been in motion for two years following the Hillsborough disaster. Another story of lies, of a system protecting itself at all costs as justice remained undone, another one which would go on for decades.
This is a compelling read, it is by turns shocking, depressing and genuinely upsetting, but it is a book which needs to be read to understand much of how British society became what it is today (and, sadly, how much it still has to learn).
Yes, 1974 really was a terrible, terrible year.
March 6, 2024
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has affected me so much. It isn’t just because it gives an extensive impression of what happened at this horrific event, but it shows the world at the time in the way these men were treated.
There was an automatic assumption of guilty. A true guilty until proven innocent, rather than the other way around. I had to read it in small chunks alongside another book. It’s information dense, because it needs to be. Showing what the then convicted men said was done to them by police, which was nothing short of torture. It also showed the police records that were entirely different. But it doesn’t stick within these walls. It tells us the wider effect on families and communities by the police in their determination that come what may, these men would be guilty. This book doesn’t shy away from anything and isn’t for the faint of heart. If you like reading true crime and/or history this book gives a massive insight into the way the investigation was manoeuvred and caused overhaul of the British justice system. And not before time. I’d definitely recommend this book highly as it shows how things can go drastically wrong given the chance.
There was an automatic assumption of guilty. A true guilty until proven innocent, rather than the other way around. I had to read it in small chunks alongside another book. It’s information dense, because it needs to be. Showing what the then convicted men said was done to them by police, which was nothing short of torture. It also showed the police records that were entirely different. But it doesn’t stick within these walls. It tells us the wider effect on families and communities by the police in their determination that come what may, these men would be guilty. This book doesn’t shy away from anything and isn’t for the faint of heart. If you like reading true crime and/or history this book gives a massive insight into the way the investigation was manoeuvred and caused overhaul of the British justice system. And not before time. I’d definitely recommend this book highly as it shows how things can go drastically wrong given the chance.
July 21, 2024
Had Chris Mullin written this as a novel I'm sure that many, if not most, readers would have been tempted to believe it was too far too fanciful to bear any true resemblance to real life. However, as he demonstrates in this expose of police brutality, a flawed judicial system and an establishment determined, in spite of overwhelming evidence of a miscarriage of justice, to close ranks and cover its tracks enabled one of the worst miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen. This is a truly shocking and deeply-disturbing story which, had it not been for the author's dogged determination to get justice for the six wrongly-convicted men, would never have been exposed. It's a remarkable example of the importance of investigative journalism in holding the establishment to account and bringing about change in corrupt systems.
February 22, 2024
I definitely don’t read enough non-fiction and need to after reading this. Re-released and updated as the awful events near the 50 year mark, this book tells the story of the Birmingham Six and the complete farce of their convictions.
There are so many things that are mentioned in this book that will have you raising your eyebrows and frowning all the way through. How the police were able to find and charge 6 men with the worse murders in history in less than 24 hours is astonishing - considering how far behind some of the forensics and technology was in the early 70’s compared with today. It’s like something out of a movie, yet even then you’d find it hard to believe. There is a quote in the book by Margaret Thatcher commenting after a tv program about the case was shown and threw serious doubt over it - “A television programme alters nothing. We do not have trial by television and the day we do the rule of law will have left this country for good”. I think this is still relevant today and even extends to social media, where so often people are “convicted” by the views of so called keyboard warriors.
If you have interest in any form of miscarriage of justice, this is definitely a book to pick up. A big shout out to Chris for not giving up either, and pursuing this for as long as he did.
There are so many things that are mentioned in this book that will have you raising your eyebrows and frowning all the way through. How the police were able to find and charge 6 men with the worse murders in history in less than 24 hours is astonishing - considering how far behind some of the forensics and technology was in the early 70’s compared with today. It’s like something out of a movie, yet even then you’d find it hard to believe. There is a quote in the book by Margaret Thatcher commenting after a tv program about the case was shown and threw serious doubt over it - “A television programme alters nothing. We do not have trial by television and the day we do the rule of law will have left this country for good”. I think this is still relevant today and even extends to social media, where so often people are “convicted” by the views of so called keyboard warriors.
If you have interest in any form of miscarriage of justice, this is definitely a book to pick up. A big shout out to Chris for not giving up either, and pursuing this for as long as he did.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews