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Judith Ward, 43, leaves the High Court in London after appealing successfully against her conviction for the 1974 bombing of an army bus. Help
Judith Ward, 43, leaves the High Court in London after
appealing successfully against her conviction for the 1974
bombing of an army bus.
'IRA bomber'
innocent, freed
after 18 years
From HEATHER MILLS in London
After 18 years, two months
and 27 days in jail for IRA bomb-
ings she did not commit, Judith
Ward was released by the Court
of Appeal in London on Monday.
Her release brings to an end a
disastrous episode of British jus-
tice meted out to innocent Irish
and English in the aftermath of
the bloody IRA bombing cam-
paign of the early 1970s. The first
of 18 people carried away on that
tide of injustice, she was the last
to be released, after the Guild-
ford Four, the Birmingham Six
and the Maguire family.
Politicians and lawyers called
for immediate legal reform and
pointed out that hers would not
be the last of the damaging mis-
carriages of justice that the legal
system would have to face. More
recent cases raising similar issues
are waiting.
There was jubilation inside
and outside the courts as the tiny
Miss Ward, now 43, disappeared
among kisses and flowers. "After
18 years, it's brilliant," she said
as she was driven away to a secret
address.
Before the weekend the Crown
had conceded that her mental in-
stability when she had admitted
bombing an army coach on the
M62 motorway and causing two
other blasts rendered her convic-
lions unsafe. The appeal judges
did not formally quash the con-
victions, because they are going
on to hear the rest of her appeal.
She has been granted bail.
Miss Ward claims that the
prosecution team, which includ-
ed Peter Taylor, now Lord Tay-
lor, the Lord Chief Justice, failed
to disclose a wealth of material
that could have pointed to her
innocence.
On Monday the court heard
that scientific tests, showing ap-
parently that boot polish pro-
duced similar results to the ones
scientists at her trial claimed had
been caused by explosives, had
never been disclosed.
Miss Ward will qualify for
compensation of about £215,000
($A500,000).
As West Yorkshire police re-
opened their investigation into
the M62 bombing, relatives of
the 12 who died gave vent to
their bitterness. Anne Morrison,
sister of Linda Haughton, who
was killed with her husband Cor-
poral Clifford and their two sons,
Lee, five, and Robert, two, said,
"Judith Ward is now free but we
have been given a life sentence.
The law in this country is so stu-
pid — I just hope the police go
out now and get the people who
did this."
— The Independent
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