Innocent: Even After Proven Guilty

After today's class I have to admit that I have lost a little faith in our legal system. Knowing that people are in jail and have been branded murderers that are actually innocent makes me wonder what the police actually teach the junior policemen. Instead of teaching them how to look for evidence and how to find the correct criminal, are they teaching them how to blame innocent people, what evidence to hide and how to lie to the public?

There are two well-known groups of people that have not only been branded murderers but have been jailed for longer then life. The two groups are: The Guildford 4 and The Birmingham 6.

The Guildford 4 were put away for 15 years for crimes they didn't commit. They were named and shamed as the people that put a bomb into a pub in Guildford and killing 5 people. It is well-known that it was the IRA that placed the bomb but the actual people are still not known. The police grabbed the first Irish people they could find and pinned it on them. The main person, Gerry Conlan had his father try to help him out and tried to prove that it wasn't his son. Guess what the corrupt police did then... put his father in jail, where he died for absolutely no crime at all.

As it turns out, a murderer can be put away for a minimum of 12 years and then escape to parole and be back on our streets. However, if you're innocent and put away you will be there for life, your entire life, you will only leave in a box... or via the innocence project.

It is for these reasons that I can not wait to start the innocence project. Not only will it be hard work but I think that it is for an amazing reason. I will be helping someone prove their innocence and get them out of prison for a crime they may not have committed.

A film about the Guildford 4, 'In the Name of the Father'.