I knew I was bad then, you see, so I started to cry.
I started to tell lies-- the same fucking lies...
I've been telling all my gobshite fucking life.
- That means words don't mean nothing. - Stop this.
Only this time, I got everyone into trouble.
But it doesn't matter, 'cause I'm no good anyhow. It doesn't matter.
Keep away from me. You've been following me all your life.
- Are you here deliberately? - No. Stop it.
You call that a fucking dig, huh?
Do you call that a fucking dig? Hit me harder. Hit me fucking harder!
- Stop it. Calm down. - For once in your fucking life!
- Hit me like a real father! -Just calm down. Stop it.
Just relax.
Try to relax.
It's okay.
It's not your fault, son, all right?
Everything's gonna be all right.
Okay. All right, son.
Visitor for Conlon!
Two on for visit!
No touching.
- Everybody else was allowed to touch. - IRA, closed visits. No contact.
Why are you doing this to us?
You have your father locked up in prison for murder.
Speak up, please.
- It's not my fault, Ma. - Take it easy, Sarah.
I swear to God, I've done nothing wrong.
Why did you sign a confession, son?
He did it to protect me, love.
You have a good son there. That's all you need to know.
You didn't sign anything yourself, did you, Giuseppe?
The only thing I said was I wanted to see you.
Look, they've no statement nor evidence against me.
I'll be out and home soon. Sure I'm only visiting here myself.
I'll be able to help out Gerry while I'm in here.
Danny's dead, Gerry.
What?
They found his body on waste ground.
The IRA said he was an incurable thief.
I sent a Mass card from the family.
This one'll not go to school since you've been away.
Hey, you go to school for your mammy.
Yes, Daddy.
Daddy, when will you be home?
I've pressed your Sunday suits for the trial.
You make sure and looky our best now, son.
But is there nitro or was there not nitro?
Yes, there are traces of nitro.
But are they all positive?
Well, yes, on six of them.
- Who'd we miss? - The aunt, Aggie-- Annie.
But her rubber glove showed a faint trace.
And the children?
Positive.
The results may not be good enough for court.
Your word will be good enough for the court.
Yes, sir.
Kill the bastards! Kill 'em!
Shoot the bastards!
Call number one.
- Let's go. -Jesus, it's a nightmare, Giuseppe.
Just stay calm, be on your best behaviour, and this'll be behind us soon.
That's it, come on.
It'll be all right.
All rise.
Sir Michael Hagerty will present the case on behalfof the Crown.
There are two series of charges here, ladies and gentlemen.
The four defendants in front...
are charged with 11 counts in relation to the explosion of the Guildford pub...
and the murders of five people.
The Crown will show that these were the bombers.
The seven defendants behind...
are charged with the possession of explosives, not charged with murder.
The Crown's case against them is...
that they are a support network for the bombers, and as such...
- should be considered independent. - Control yourself. Pay attention.
My first witness is Inspector Robert Dixon.
I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I give shall be the truth...
the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Inspector, why do you believe these four are the bombers?
First Hill, then Conlon, Armstrong, Richardson...
confessed to the bombing.
They are the IRA's ASU.
Can you explain ASUs for us?
Active Service Unit. They are the elite of the IRA...
who carry out the bombings and the shootings.
Often they are combat veterans with experience of shooting at soldiers...
and planting explosives.
And the others-- Annie Maguire and her family?
They are the IRA's support network.
Their families and friends store the weapons and explosives...
and they provide what we call ''safe houses.''
Thank you, Inspector.
These people were arrested two days...
after the Prevention of Terrorism Act was introduced.
That's correct.
Can you explain, please, the powers that this gives to the police?
It permits us to hold suspected terrorists...
for a period of up to seven days.
Quite extraordinary powers in a democracy.
Quite difficult, I would think for the police to resist the temptation...
- to deal forcibly with people. - Objection.
People they suspect of the biggest bombing campaign on British mainland...
- since the Second World War. - Objection. My lord, I really must--
- Get to the point! - Now, this bombing campaign...
struck deep into the British people's sense of security.
The people looked to you, Inspector, to find those responsible.
Yes.
You must have been under the most intense pressure.
That's my job.
Now, all of the defendants claim--
including young Patrick Maguire, aged just 1 4--
Patrick, would you stand up, please?
Thank you. All of the defendants claim...
that they were subjected to physical and mental abuse while in police custody.
They were never harmed in any way.
He's fucking lying! They beat the shite out of us!
Silence!
Please believe us! They beat us!
Just be quiet.
Sit them down!
Silence in the court!
Mr. Conlon says...
that you pulled him by the hair and squeezed his testicles.
I never even spoke to Mr. Conlon.
I hope you burn in hell, Dixon.
Silence!
Mr. Hill says the police sat astride him and put a gun in his mouth.
There was no pressure of any kind.
You can go and fuck yourself, you lying fucking bastard!
Order! Order in court!
Inspector, in the case of the four main defendants...
you have no corroborating evidence of any kind.
I have the confessions of our obvious terrorists. What more do you want?
Well, nitroglycerine is a highly toxic substance.
It's when the substance to be tested--
After a few weeks, we were bored out of our minds--
just messed around and that there.
They must've been desperate for evidence.
They produced Annie's washing-up gloves like a rabbit out of a hat at one point.
Then it was my turn to take the stand.
Mr. Conlon, did you bomb Guildford?
No, I didn't.
The police claim that you were in Guildford on the night of the bombing.
Can you tell us where you were?
I was in a park in London at that time.
- Who with? - With Paul Hill sitting there.
You met somebody else that night, about 8:00 p.m.
- Aye, I met a man called Charlie Burke. - And who is he?
He was just a fellow, a homeless guy that we met in the park.
Why do you remember this man so clearly?
I was thinking that if I didn't get out of London fast, I would end up like him.
- You told this to the police? - Aye.
- What did they say? - They said he didn't exist.
Mr Conlon, why did you confess to the Guildford bombing?
They beat me...
and then they threatened to kill my father.
- Will you repeat that please? - They terrorized me for seven days.
After that, they threatened to kill my father.
I'd have fucking signed anything after that.
- Excuse my language. - Thank you.
You expect this jury to believe that decorated police of icers...
would risk their career and their reputation...
by threatening your father?
I don't expect them to believe it by the time you finish with them...
but it happens to be truth.
You're an honest man, aren't you, Mr Conlon?
I like to think so.
You've told us you remember this Charlie Burke very well.
Aye.
Do you remember telling the police anything else about that night?
Let me refresh your memory. You told Inspector Dixon...
that you had committed a robbery on that night.
Now do you remember?
Aye.
- Who did you rob? - Robbed a hooker.
- You robbed a prostitute? - Aye.
And we are expected to believe a man who claims he stole from a prostitute...
before we would believe ten police of icers who stood here on oath...
and called you a liar?
That was the truth.
I'm bound to say I don't find you very convincing.
Thank you, Mr. Conlon.
Why didn't you tell me that you'd stole from that woman?
You should've called me. I would've sent the money.
Are you gonna be a thief and a liar all your life?
Standing up in that witness box, making faces to your mates.
At least you told the truth in there. That'll stand you.
Are you not going to eat that sausage?
They put a gun in my mouth...
and made me confess to a murder I didn't commit.
So I said I did the big bombing...
and named anybody I knew who was not in the IRA.
Not in the IRA?
- Definitely not in the IRA. - Why?
You know why.
I just wanted to show how ridiculous it all was.
Inspector, the defendant Conlon presented an alibi--
One Charlie Burke.
That name did appear in Mr Conlon's statement. We investigated it.
We couldn't find any trace of such a person.
And there was this question of the robbery of a prostitute.
No robberies were reported in that area that night.
At the start of this trial, I shook Gerry Conlon's hand.
Subsequently, I was deeply shocked when a fellow attorney came to me...
and asked me if I was now going to wash my hand.
In my long legal career, I cannot remember a case...
where emotions have been so charged.
It falls to me now to appeal to you...
the members of thejury, not to get caught up in this...
tide of mass hysteria.
Inspector Dixon admits there are scores of inconsistencies in the confessions.
My clients contend that they were forced to confess...
through brutality and intimidation.
Now, they may be foolish...
petty thieves, even drug abusers...
but they are not the ruthless bombers who have terrorized Britain for months.
You should find these young people not guilty.
- Bollocks! - Okay, let's go.
- Get your fucking hands of me! - Move it!
- Hands of !
Ladies and gentlemen...
like my learned colleague in the defence...
I would caution you not to be swayed by your emotions.
The four people you see in the front...
are one of the most cunning and cruel criminal conspiracies...
ever to set foot on English soil.
Now, here are the facts of this case:
Inspector Dixon...
a decorated of icer of great expertise...
acting on reliable information and good detective work...
arrested Paul Hill...
who, guilt-ridden by the shame of his crime, confessed.
That confession led the police to the ringleader, Conlon...
and his terrorist family--
his aunt, Annie Maguire, the experienced bomb maker...
who wore rubber gloves when handling explosives...
in the kitchen of her home in Harlesden.
She even allowed her children to handle explosives--
Vincent, aged 16, Patrick, 14--
who did not-- could not-- know any better.
Giuseppe Conlon, her brother-in-law...
the courier who arrived with more explosives.
Armstrong and his dupe Richardson, who carried the bomb.
Now, these are the people who, in a panic...
had to dispose of the nitroglycerine...
and that is what sealed their fate.
How do we know this? Because the truth was on their hands.
It is a story written in the blood of their victims.
You have seen some of those who survived...
their callous disregard for human life.
It is now your duty to protect society from them.
I am confident that that is what you will do.
Have you reached a verdict?
Yes, we have, my lord.
- How do you find the defendants? - Guilty as charged.
Hang the Irie bastards!
Order! Silence!
String 'em up!
Gerard Patrick Conlon.
Stand up.
I feel it is my duty to wonder aloud...
why you were not charged with treason to the Crown...
a charge that carries a penalty of death by hanging--
a sentence I would have had no difficulty in passing...
in this case.
I sentence you to life imprisonment...
and I instruct that you shall serve...
a minimum of 30 years.
Take him down.
Help me.
Paul Michael Hill.
In my view, your crime is such that...
life shall mean life.
Annie Maguire, I recommend you serve 14 years!
- What have I done, for Christ's sake? - Take her down!
- Giuseppe Conlon, 12 years. - No, my husband's innocent!
Lord have mercy on you!
Patrick Joseph Armstrong, 30 years.
Carole Richardson, 30 years.
Our case was so insane that if you made it up, nobody would believe it.
Look, Gareth, I know people say that I'm a compulsive storyteller...
and nobody believed a word I said in court...
but Charlie Burke did exist-- he'snot just a figment of my imagination.
Sorry.
We were shippedof to ParkRoyalPrison...
an old Victorian fortress where the most dangerous criminals were held...
in the maximum-security wing.
- Place of birth. - Belfast.
Then you're British.
This is your home for the rest of your life.
So accept it and get on with it. Right, come this way.
The chief warder, Barker...
gave us blue denim uniforms with yellow stripes.
We were Category A--
the highest-security class along with the rapists and murderers.
My father said we'd fight for an appeal...
but I didn 't want to know about the legal system.
- I'm going back to the cell. - Come on. Follow me.
Come on, Gerry.
Hey, Ronnie. There's those Irish bastards, Ronnie.
Irish scum.
My name's Giuseppe Conlon. I'm an innocent man.
So is my son.
We shouldn't even be in here.
Get that fucking scum of my floor.
I said, knock it of !
- They must know they've made a mistake. - No, they don't.
The proof of our innocence must be there in the evidence.
We have to fight 'em to get an appeal.
- I'll speak to Father Wilson. - Speak to everybody.
We'll write letters from in here. Start a campaign.
Have they been treating you all right?
Aye, fine. Fine.
Have they, son?
Aye. No problem.
Landing of icers, exercise.
Forgot the dessert spoons.
There we go.
These chips are not bad.
- Now don't you despair, son. - Never mind about "don't despair"
What?
I mean, we're innocent, we can't even go out of the cell.
You're better of being guilty. At least you get some respect.
Landing of icers on the threes for exercise.
You can have my chips.
Gerry, man.
Problem? You all right?
How you like your new home?
Bombing of pillar-box, Kensington High Street.
Bombing of pillar-box, Talbot Lodge.
Bombing of naval club.
Bombing of Aldershot Railway Station. Attempted murder of Edward Heath.
Murder of Ross McWhirter.
Possession of irearms, Balcombe Street, December 6, 1975.
And the Guildford pub bombings.
You have innocent people in jail for that.
Take him out.
He did it.
Where's all the missing pieces?
We eat it up, man.
Before my woman send it in here, right...
she have it dipped in liquid acid--
LSD, man.
We've been dropping the British Empire for the last six months.
You want to fly? Pick a country.
Fuck's sake, don't give me Northern Ireland. I don't want a bad trip.
Try Nepal, man. Take you to the Himalayas.
See the dragon.
Lights out in 15 minutes. 15 minutes.
Are you praying for the Seventh Cavalry?
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners...
now and at the moment of our death. Amen.
That's not funny, Gerry.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women...
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God...
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Are you on drugs?
Look, Da, I'll be older than you are now when I get out of this place.
If I get out.
- Are you listening to me? - I'm not talking to you.
Now who's being childish?
I haven't had a sensible word out of you for two weeks.
That stuff'll kill you.
Sure I'm dead anyway.
Look, I'm sorry. I'll not take it again so long as you live.
Are you happy now?
No.
Why not?
I don't want you to take it whether I live or die.
Jesus Christ.
All right. I'll do nothing to annoy you in your grave.
Now are you happy?
Is that a promise?
Aye.
Maybe.
Gerry, man, check out your friend.
He look like the real thing.
Come on.
- Excuse me. - All right.
Let's have a talk.
We have to eat in the cells.
See ya later.
Gerry, come on.
Morning, paddy.
Yes!
Come on!
Yes, man, Gerry!
This one, this one, this one, 1 4 days solitary! Lock up!
Lock up!
He'll be all right. He'll be back in a couple of days.
I'm worried about Bridie.
Why?
She's dyed her hair blonde.
Well, she's only young.
She's wearing a dog collar.
There's a fella chained to it. He's got one on too.
Well...
as long as she's happy.
Lunch break.
Yes, Gerry, man! That's right!
Gerry's a bad boy!
Put the Englishman under heavy, heavy manners.
Yes, sir. Go on, boy. Kick out them clods, yes?
This is Joe McAndrew. He has something important to tell you.
Hello, Mr Conlon.
I'm watching you.
What is it?
I'm the one who planted the Guildford bomb, Mr. Conlon.
Did you tell the police that?
Yes, I did.
- But we haven't heard a thing. - See what he has to say, Da.
Go on.
I told them. They know the truth.
They can't afford to face it.
It's a war. You're one if its innocent victims.
I'm sorry foryour trouble.
Don't be sorry for us.
You should be sorry for the people you killed.
It was a military target, a soldier's pub.
They were innocent people, God's children.
Look, I'll do all I can to help you while you're in here.
We don't need your help.
I'd appreciate it ifyou'd leave us alone.
Whatever you say.
I'm sorry about that.
What was that all about? You mind your fucking manners.
What? Manners to him? I don't want any part of him, or his ways.
At least he fights back, which is more than you ever did in your life.
- What are you talking about? - Do you remember Lydon Hill?
You used to ride me up on your bike up Lydon Hill.
And then one day you couldn't make it to the top...
and I hopped of and looked back, and your face was all red.
- Remember that? - Aye.
It was working in the paint shed done that to you.
What?
It was the fumes from working in the paint shed done that to you.
Never mind jumping of the ferry, swimming back to Mammy.
It was the one job a Catholic can get, and you wouldn't even fight back then.
Go on outside. Play with your newfound friend.
All I'm saying is that you've been a victim. It's time you fought back.
- Get out of my sight. - I'm going.
This is the only way it'll work. We have no alternative.
- Well, what are you doing? - Nothing.
- They didn't do it. - They all did it.
I'm going back to Belfast.
After the fight, nobody stopped us going out in the yard to exercise.
I felt brilliant. Joe explained things to me.
He explained how the Brits never left anywhere without a fight...
how they had to be beaten out of every country they ever occupied...
how this prison was just an extension of their system.
Calling for work on the threes.
We had to confront the chief prison of icer, Barker.
Mr Smalls.
But to do that, we had to take care of Ronnie Smalls.
Can I have a word about 54 Halsley Road?
Take a walk.
If anything happens to me or Gerry...
or any other Irish prisoner...
we'll have 54 Halsley Road blown to smithereens...
with your family in it.
Threaten my family and I'll cut your fucking head of.
I don't make threats.
I just carry out orders. I don't want to hurt your family.
Your trouble is, Joe, you want to rule the fucking world.
Paddy's all right.
Soon, we were all one happy family.
Again!
Even Kojak was ready to forgive.
- Live and let live. - Barkerbegan topanic.
He told us to take our socks out of the window.
He thought we were signalling to other prisoners.
We're not signalling. We're drying our socks out.
- Take the socks out of the window. - Who says?
Mr. Barker.
- That was all the excuse Joe needed. - Give us two minutes.
- Up and away we went. - Are you with me?
What's he up to now?
All prison of icers to vacate the wing.
All of icers vacate the wing!
This'll damage the whole campaign.
Look, you do it your way, and we'll do it ours, all right?
- You can read our demands. - Go back to your cells.
Blankets!
- For God's sake, put a stop to this. - You're weakening my position.
- It will end in violence. - Good.
- What's good about it? - It's all they understand.
Barker refused to negotiate.
But with the screws gone, we'da brief taste of freedom.
Check out Ronnie!
Him swallow half Africa.
I give him about an hour.
We found out later our protest got on TV.
And that's when the riot squad was ordered in.
We were singled out as the ringleaders.
Now!
You just signed your own death warrant, Barker.
Are you happy now?
And then you arrived, Gareth.
That's the first time I saw you, undera raining shower of sparks.
It was the first time I'd seen a woman in five years, other than my mother.
But to me, you were a lawyer first. And I hated lawyers.
- Do you have a new isolation-- - Prisoners: Barth, Andrew.
Bailey, Benjamin. McAndrew, Joseph.
- Sorry. Can you-- I can't hear. - Conlon, Gerard.
O'Brien, John.
Lynch, Bernard. Crisp, Quincy.
Lyon, Richard. Burns, Delrow.
What about Conlon? Sorry. Giuseppe Conlon.
He's on the third floor.
He has difficulty getting down the stairs.
Well, I'll just have to go up and see him then.
- The delegation has seen enough. - Right-o. Sorry.
Well, I won't be a minute. I'll just-- Is that all right? Sorry.
I'll meet you outside, okay? Sorry.
Sorry, I can't--
Pulmonary thrombosis.
- And he's getting proper medication? - Aye.
Son?
That's-- Is it Gerry?
That's Gerry.
He's had a spot of bother with lawyers in the past.
He's all yours. Fifteen minutes.
- Thank you. - Sit down.
You wanted to see me, Gerry?
Why are you giving my father false hope?
Sorry?
He's been up and down these stairs to see you.
He hasn't even seen my mother in six months.
I hear you're getting on very well with her, by the way.
Yes. She's a very brave woman.
You don't know the halfof it.
The fucking stairs are killing him.
It's not the stairs that are killing your father.
- What is it, then? - It's your lack of aith.
Lack of aith? Faith in what?
In yourself.
No, I have faith in myself.
Gerry Conlon, lifer, 30-year sentence.
And I know how to survive it.
At what price?
I'll pay the fucking price. Don't you worry about it.
The price for what?
You're very good at the English, aren't you?
You see, I don't understand your language.
''Justice.'' ''Mercy.'' ''Clemency.''
I literally don't understand what those words mean.
I'd like to put in an application to get all my teeth extracted.
That way I could put my fist in my mouth and never speak another word of English.
Do you see what I'm saying? Mrs Peirce, is it?
Are you trying to impress me?
Visit's up.
Don't give my father false hope, all right?
You've got to help him!
In prison, you pray for anything to break the monotony.
A snowstorm is like apresent from God.
Prison of icers are not to be hit!
You've asked for it.
Come along!
After the riot, my father's health deteriorated badly.
He couldn 't make it down the stairs to enjoy the snow.
l wavedup to him, but he was looking at something else.
My da always saw the good in people.
He recognized it in you the minute he saw you, Gareth.
Guv, guv, where you going? Where's me letters? Guv'nor!
Thank you.
I see you've been mentioned in Congress, Giuseppe.
What's that?
How'd you come by that name?
An Italian ice cream maker.
Had a shop on the corner of the street where I was born.
Giuseppe Fusco.
My mother fell in love with the name.
Were they--
- You know. - What?
- Lovers. - Who?
My mother and the ice cream maker?
Oh, no, God.
Jesus, no. No, they were not.
No, she just liked the name.
But it made my life hell.
All the other children laughing at you. You have any kids yourself?
He's talking to Barker.
Forget it. He can talk to whoever he fucking likes.
Two.
Flown the nest now.
Whether Barker was responsible or not...
for bringing in the riot squad, Joe never forgave him.
Joe was still at war...
and to him, Barker was the enemy.
Number?
The name is McAndrew.
Get out. Get out of the light!
- Get out of the light. - Number?
Name's Gerry Conlon.
Piss of out of the light. Get out of the light!
You're 1 36.
There's someone sitting there.
Move when you're told.
Put it out.
- How's your boy? - He's good.
You know, he looks more likeyou everyday.
He's smarter than I am.
Three years old, he can read the funny papers.
There's a hair in the fucking projector!
Yeah, get the fucking hair out the projector, will you?
- Come on. Get it out! - Get it out!
We're going fucking blind up here.
Lively.
- We'll get there, Pop. - Quiet.
- I didn't say a fucking thing. - You're blocking.
Shut it.
Now, listen. Whoever comes to you...
with this Barzini meeting--
I knew that Santino was gonna have to go through all this.
And Fredo, well--
Fredo was wrong.
And I never wanted this for you.
For you!
To the floor, mate! Get down!
Come on, mate, get a blanket! For God's sake, he's burning!
Barker! Move back, Barker!
Get in there!
Get it out!