Page 14 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

In the Office of Constable – Sir Robert Mark

Sir Robert Mark’s achievement as Commissioner of
the Metropolitan Police is one of the great success
stories of our national life. Not only did he root out
corruption that was firmly entrenched in the CID, he
led his men to a series of great victories against
terrorism and violent crime. The police are, and in his
view ought to be, independent of political control.
They are there to hold the ring of democratic
argument and they rely for their effectiveness on the
decent instincts and civilized standards of they
people they represent and defend. Publisher: Collins; 1st edition (9 Oct. 1978)

Error of Judgement – Chris Mullin

At just after 4 p.m., on Thursday, March 14, 1991, the
British legal system disgorged its most celebrated
victims. The six men convicted of the Birmingham
pub bombings emerged from the front entrance of
the Central Criminal Court. The Old Bailey was lined
with cheering well-wishers. Bewigged lawyers and
court officials peered down, poker-faced, from the
windows of the court. A vast assembly of
photographers and television crews from around
the world were penned behind metal crush-barriers,
standing three high on chairs and ladders. They had
come to bear witness to the humbling of one of the
world's most arrogant legal systems.
The release of the Birmingham Six was a watershed for British justice.

On October 7, 1993, Mr. Justice Garland ordered that charges of perverting
the course of justice against three of the West Midlands detectives involved in
the pub bombings case should be dropped on the grounds that publicity
surrounding the case precluded the possibility of a fair trial.
At the time of writing, not a single person has since been convicted for their
part in the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974 and it is unlikely that anyone
ever will.

Chris Mullin’s book explores the arrest, conviction and subsequent release of
the six men arrested at the time.

Publisher: Poolbeg Press Ltd; Revised edition edition (9 Mar. 1990)
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