Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have read this book once and found it astounding. Gerry Conlon was convicted of the Guildford Pub bombings of October 1974, his conviction was later quashed by the Legal system, therefore establishing his innocence. His autobiography not only enlightens one of the punishment he suffered at the hands of the prison guards, a full 15 years worth, who watched over him in the various prisons he attended, it also highlights the persecution he faced in Ulster as a Catholic.

I found Conlon's book to be quite enlightening as it detailed the change in which he went through whilst in jail. He was obviously a victim of the Justice system and the brutality of the Prison Service. Even though there is the possibility of him writing with a little bias, I believe that his account of the trail and prison to be moving and accurate. Much better than the hollywood production that is about 50% accurate to his autobiography.

I bought this book because I'd seen the film 'In The Name Of The Father' stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson. But after I read the book I realised that the whole story had been changed a lot in the film version. This is a very well-written book and it has become my favourite book ever. It is a very true story and I think Gerry Conlon (the author) wrote what had happened to himself with great genuineness. I personally think that it takes very much courage to write your own true, bad experiences and publish them. This book has uncovered the savage, brutal treatment of the police, how inhumanely, cruelly they can treat/beat a suspect when they question him. It has also tell people that how miscarriages of justice can be ridiculously happened, how the innocent people can be charged for something they had never done and spent decades in gaol. If you have read this book you should remember that how the RUC hit and kicked Conlon. They even punched his kidneys and this is what had caused Conlon kidney problems for the rest of his life. However, I wonder what would it be if what happened had never happened. Before being wrongfully accused, Conlon had been simply a wee thief who spent his free time on drinking, gambling, drifting etc. He could have gone on like this forever. He would not have been sentenced 15 years inprisonment, he would not have written the book 'Proved Innocent' (Retitled 'In The Name Of The Father'), his father probably would not have died so early and tragicly and he probably would not have have problems of his kidneys. I am also impressed that Conlon could remember so many things happened within his thirty-five-year life so vividly. I believe he has told the truth, and this book is definitely worth reading.

One of my most treasured possessions is Gerry Conlon's In the Name of the Father, a vivid, brutal, passionate, honest, and outstanding account of Irishman Conlon's unjust trial and subsequent conviction of terrorism. Most of these political sob stories feature mundane description and unabashed sentimentality. Conlon never falls into these traps. The writing always rings true, and he presents his real-life characters so vividly that you feel as if you've just tallked with them. The neglect of this book is as unjust a crime as Conlon's incarceration. Conlon writes with the compassion for human suffering of Dostoevsky, the fiery wit and consciousness of Orwell, and the humanity and emotion of Harper Lee. This is one of the great books; if I were trapped on a desert island with no company, this is the book I'd take along.

I have read this book many thrice now and it never fails to amaze me. I don't know how the British government can repay Conlon and his friends. 2 decades is no joke. They will never get the best years of their lives back again.

This book, real and made into a good film that is excellent but cannot begin to measure up to this great writing, shook me to the core and should be read by all - particularly we English whose rights and duties, always previously taken for granted, were, frankly, immeasurably diminished by part of our own establishment in that dastardly attack of theirs, presumeably for trumped up political reasons, upon this innocent band of ordinary folk from Northern Ireland. Even when their innocence became clear to all those in the know, these "law" enforcers persisted in their unclean seeming vendetta against these unfortunates. And no visible shame seems to attach to them then or now, or would be great enough for those incorrigable central players - who came out of it still as if smelling of roses whilst their innocent victims bore the scars. Well done, Gerry Conlon and your family & friends, for persevering with your battle with the wicked over your innocence and writing this excellent book.

I have seen the movie and that was a shocking story but the book was far more shocking.I am not saying he was an angel when he was a kid.But he grew up in a terrible enviroment.Gery conlon did steal but he wasn't involved in the guildford bombing.Some people may think he disurfed some of the punishment he got because he steeled lots of stuff.But the punishment he got for the guildford bombing {the crime he didn't commit} was to much. the first day he was arrested for the bombing was enough punishment for all his committed crimes.If you want to know the truth you should read this book.If your only interrested in lies then you should not read this book.When you decide to read this book,at the end you know he is innocent.

You must read this book,even if you're not Irish it will break your heart. You will ask yourself will it ever end ? The British have made miserable the lives of so many. Gerry Conlon and his family are owed a great debt by the brits for their suffering and loss. I have great compassion and pity for anyone that has lived under the tyranny of british rule. More than politics, this is a tale of family honour.