Jailhouselawyer's Blog

A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.

Monday, August 25, 2008

300 IRA members to fight convictions and seek compensation

300 IRA members to fight convictions and seek compensation

Up to 300 IRA members are to attempt to have their convictions overturned and sue the British government for compensation for wrongful imprisonment, the Guardian has learned.

Some former inmates of the Maze and other prisons during the Troubles have consulted lawyers and prisoners' groups on how to quash convictions, many of which they allege were secured through tampered evidence and confessions extracted under torture and duress.

The move follows the success of Danny Morrison, Sinn Féin's former publicity director, in overturning his 1991 conviction for the false imprisonment of IRA informer Sandy Lynch a year earlier.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission recommended that his case go back to the court of appeal, which this summer cleared him. Morrison, who coined the phrase "ballot box and Armalite strategy" in the 1980s, is in line for substantial compensation
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jailhouselawyer at 10:32 AM

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jailhouselawyer
Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom
John Hirst Hull, East Yorkshire, GB "Who is John Hirst?" the Sun online questioned the day after the UK lost its appeal to the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR in the prisoners votes case. The profile was not very informative nor flattering. But, I don't like the Sun either so we are quits. I was born, at 2 I was put into Dr Barnardo's Homes. What they called care, we refer to it as physical and sexual abuse. I drifted into crime, and spent 35 years in prison. In spite of the system, I reformed and rehabilitated myself with the support of some within and outside of the system. I was transformed from a law breaker into a law-maker. I am firmly committed to prisoners rights, and am a campaigner for penal reform. I live in a 3 bedroom terrace house within a cul-de-sac, and have a dog as a companion. My Latvian friend keeps invading my space and telling me I need a wife. She does keep the house clean and tidy, but loves my dog and calls him her boyfriend... Recently, Viking FM have asked for advice and reports for the news on radio on Criminal Justice issues. In addition, I used to write regularly for Inside Time the National newspaper for prisoners.
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