Paddy Hill, who has died aged 80, was the angriest and most articulate of the Birmingham Six – the innocent men convicted in 1975 of the Birmingham pub bombings. The explosions in two city centre pubs in 1974 killed 21 people and injured many more, and took place at a time of frequent IRA terrorist attacks on mainland Britain.
From the outset Hill protested his innocence, to anyone he thought might be able to help. First responses were not encouraging. Tom Sargent, the secretary of Justice, the British section of the International Commission of Jurists, wrote: “In a case like yours so many reputations are at stake that in my view the obstacles to overcome are insuperable.”
