In 1985 Paul May, who has died aged 74 of a pulmonary embolism, became the chair of the Birmingham Six campaign. Six years later, the convictions of Billy Power, Paddy Hill, Johnnie Walker, Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter and Hughie Callaghan for the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 were quashed by the court of appeal, but only after they had spent 17 years in prison.
As the campaign got under way from a small backroom in the Camden Irish Centre, north London, the journalist (and later Labour MP) Chris Mullin presented new evidence in World in Action TV programmes and a book. Alongside his work as a housing officer for Islington council, Paul expanded the campaign until it had a huge network of supporters in Britain and abroad. By the time the Six’s new appeal opened, he had done much to sway public opinion concerning one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, and he organised or was involved with such cases for the rest of his life.
