In the Name of the Father: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four: Tie-In [Paperback]

Gerry Conlon (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: Plume (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452272785
• ISBN-13: 978-0452272781
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innocent People Spent Decades In Jail, November 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Name of the Father: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four: Tie-In (Paperback)

This is a shocking, blood true story. I read it again and again after the first time I finished reading it. Gerry Conlon was a petty thief who paid his attention on horse-racing results, hanging out at pubs with his mates, and betting. Basically a carefree lad in his own early twenties. But suddenly, he was accused of being an IRA member who had bombed a bar in Guildford. And it was not only him, but as well as his friends, acqaintances, relatives and even his old, unhealthy father. They were all brought to court and found guilty. Gerry Conlon was sentenced to 30 years inprisonment, and his father, Guiseppe Colon, miseralbly died in jail and had been seriously ill before he died. The Guildford Four - Paul Hill, Carole Richardson, Paddy Armstrong and Gerry Conlon's youth had been taken away with one of the most scandalous, unbelievably ridiculous miscarriage of justice that had ever happened. While the police questioned these people they seemed able to do whatever they wanted to them - including physical abuse. The following paragraph is a quote from 'In The Name Of The Father': (Page 93) '...She (Kate Maguire, Gerry Conlon's aunt) had her period at the time but they gave her nothing. She had to wash her panties in the toilet bowl, she had bare feet the whole time...Kate took her detention and interrogation very hard. When they let her go home at the end of the week without any charge - or apology, she was in a very bad way. Ever since her seven days in police custody, my aunt has not been able to eat any solid food and has existed on a diet of Complan and milk, even fifteen years later. She attempted suicide after her release because of the treatment she'd had. She used to be a very bubbly, cheerful woman. Now she is terrified of the police.' By reading the truth of these innocent people being wrongfully accused you will see how inhuman the police can be, how they can torture a person savagely, how awful prison life is. I think it does need a change. At last, Gerry Conlon and the rest of the Guildford Four were proved innocent. Let us hope that there shall be no more innocent people being charged with something they have never committed. I strongly recommend you to get a copy of this book. It is a must read.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars book report, June 8, 2005

By 

Alexandra Auer "alexis" (Austria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In The Name of the Father (Paperback)

Proved Innocent

The Author is Gerry Conlon and the book was published first by Hamish Hamilton in 1990.
It is an original version of a true story which happened to the author.

The "Guildford 4" consisted of Gerry Conlon, Armstrong, Paul Hill and Richardson were framed; there seems to be no doubt about that. A feckless young Irishman named Gerry Conlon and three others were charged by the British police with being the IRA terrorists who bombed a pub in Guildford, England, in 1974, and a year later they were convicted and arrested for 15 years.
Gerry Conlon was born and educated in Belfast. He went to London in August 1974, but returned to Belfast on October 19th, 1974. On November 30th, he was arrested by the RUC in Belfast and was taken to Guildford, where he was cross-examined for three days until he signed a false confession which said that he have bombed two Guildford public houses in which seven people died and fifty were injured on October 5th, 1974.
Gerry was a young tearaway, a petty thief who loved to walk into a shop and walk off with a few things.

Guiseppe Conlon, Gerry Conlon's father, was arrested when he went to England to inquire about his son's arrest and was convicted of handling explosives in the "Maguire 7" trial.
On September 22nd, 1975 "Guilford 4" were convicted on 33 charges of murder and conspiracy on the basis of their false confessions. In October, 1977 the "Guilford Four" Appeal was rejected. On January 23rd, 1980, Guiseppe Conlon died protesting his innocence under police guard in Hammersmith Hospital where he had been sent from Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Friends and relatives of the "Maguire 7" and "Guildford 4" mounted a media campaign to highlight their wrongful conviction and after the broadcasting of several documentaries the Guildford 4's case was referred back to the Court of Appeal. On October 19th, 1989 their convictions were quashed and the Guildford 4 were released after fifteen years in prison.

"Proved Innocent" tells this story in angry dramatic detail, showing that the British police were so obsessed with the need to produce the IRA bombers that they seized on flimsy hearsay evidence and then tortured their prisoners to extract confessions. For the IRA, human life is cheap, and all targets are legitimate. For the police, it doesn't matter who's convicted, as long as the perception is that they're doing their jobs. For the "Guildford 4" justice is unlikely and nebulous. It gives us an idea of our so-called justice system and the treatment that people can receive at the hands of the authorities.
To my mind it was very shocking as he told us, how he was threatened in prison. The screw always called him bastard a threatened him on a very brutal way. As he didn't confessed the Guilford bombing he had to strip in front of the screw and afterwards he had to stay a few nights naked in his cell. He also was beaten and hurt and didn't get any medicine. They threatened him like he was a dangerous criminal, but he wasn't.
It must be hell on earth to know that you are innocent and although you are regarded as a bastard.
I liked it very much, because although the whole book describes harrowing story, Gerry Conlon managed to use a little bit of humour.
Everybody who wants to read a well written true story which really moves you should read it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible read., November 26, 2002

By 

A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Name of the Father: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four: Tie-In (Paperback)

This book was incredible. It's difficult to believe the such injustices happen. Basically, this book is about a troubled 'youth' who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was sentenced to jail along with other members of his family. When the book is over, you feel a sense of relief, yet you can't help but feel anger towards the criminal justice system.