Guildford Pub Bombings - The Guildford Four

The Guildford Four

The bombings were at the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Metropolitan Police were under enormous pressure to apprehend the IRA bombers responsible for the attacks in England. In December 1974 the police arrested three men and a woman, later known as the "Guildford Four". These were:

• Gerry Conlon
• Paul Hill
• Patrick Armstrong
• Carole Richardson

They were falsely convicted of the bombings in October 1975, and held in prison for fifteen years, during which Gerry Conlon's father, Patrick "Giuseppe" Conlon died in prison. Their convictions were later overturned in the appeal courts after it was proved the convictions had been based on confessions obtained by torture, whilst evidence clearing them was not reported by the police.

During the trial of the "Balcombe Street Four" in February 1977, the four IRA members instructed their lawyers to "draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences" for three bombings in Woolwich and Guildford. They were never charged with these offences. The movie In the Name of the Father is based on these events.