Gerry Conlon and Paddy Hill speaking at the University of Limerick, School of Law — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00cold wet November night and this is at
2. 0:04just before 2:00 in the morning and I
3. 0:07got out of that police car and there's
4. 0:08two little flights of steps up into the
5. 0:11police station CU it was right on the
6. 0:13corner and as I walked up those two
7. 0:15flight steps I never realized that was
8. 0:18the last steps to freedom I have to take
9. 0:20for 16 and a half years I've been in
10. 0:23trouble with the cops since he was 12 13
11. 0:25years of age anyway I said to him listen
12. 0:29there's only one thing in Ireland that's
13. 0:30green that's the grass not the people
14. 0:33don't treat me like an idiot said I've
15. 0:36been in trouble with the cops and if you
16. 0:37want know anything about me pick up a
17. 0:39telephone switch yourself on to this swy
18. 0:42computer cro the criminal records and
19. 0:45you'll have my life story in front of
20. 0:47you in two minutes I'm not wanted by the
21. 0:50police and if I was wanted I live next
22. 0:53door to a police station in King
23. 0:54standing in Birmingham I my house was
24. 0:57there and that was the police we like
25. 0:59that
26. 1:00first of all I think it's really
27. 1:01important to be invited down to limr
28. 1:03University to meet students who are
29. 1:04going to become the future legal brands
30. 1:07of the country hopefully and
31. 1:10misrepresentation and bad representation
32. 1:12by lawers can play a major factor in a
33. 1:14miscarriage of justice and as I was
34. 1:17saying to him this morning I was
35. 1:18represented by the biggest law firm in
36. 1:21London Simon Mirad and Allen and they
37. 1:23sent me an out work actor called David
38. 1:25Walsh to act as my solicitor he was a
39. 1:27paralal and I've never to this day met
40. 1:29anyone from Simon Mirad and nen so it's
41. 1:32just trying to reinforce the experiences
42. 1:35that we went through the the ongoing
43. 1:37situation with other miscarriages of
44. 1:39justice and people in prison who we
45. 1:41advocating for you know to to keep this
46. 1:44awareness and we can we can accept
47. 1:46mistakes cuz human beings make mistakes
48. 1:49but when there's a deliberate policy of
49. 1:51get someone get anyone for a Pacific
50. 1:53horrific crime that's when we should all
51. 1:56be frightened because if they're putting
52. 1:57innocent people such as the Guilford for
53. 1:59dep farming home six the Maguire the
54. 2:01Tottenham 3 the Bridgewater 4 the
55. 2:03Cardiff 3 and jail for crimes they
56. 2:05didn't commit they're leaving killers on
57. 2:07the streets and that's an insult to the
58. 2:09public and we know the police do a hard
59. 2:11job and it is a difficult job but
60. 2:13they're PID and they're trained and
61. 2:15they're given a little bit of you know
62. 2:18latitude in in their lifestyle and and
63. 2:21and we forgo a lot of things when they
64. 2:22make mistakes but putting innocent
65. 2:24people in prison can it ever be
66. 2:27justified can never be right and and
67. 2:29it's a duty to give them the best
68. 2:31representation to go in with a far and
69. 2:33open honest mind not to be persuaded by
70. 2:36politics or by the Press into to have an
71. 2:38assumption before you go to defend
72. 2:40someone you know and we need lawyers to
73. 2:43go to fight for people to go to uphold
74. 2:46what the Judiciary is supposed to be all
75. 2:48about and that's about truth and justice