Skip to content

Birmingham Six member Paddy Hill dies aged 80

PA Media Close up headshot of Paddy Hill looking away from camera while wearing a grey suit against a neutral background, as he attended Council House in Solihull following fresh inquests into the deaths of those in the bombings. Taken in Birmingham in 2016. PA Media
Paddy Hill was one of the Birmingham Six, who were wrongly convicted of bombing two pubs in the city in 1974

Paddy Hill, one of six men wrongly convicted of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, has died aged 80.

In a post on Facebook, the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) said Mr Hill died peacefully at home on Monday morning.

Explosions at two Birmingham city centre pubs - the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town - killed 21 people in November 1974.

The Birmingham Six spent 17 years in prison for the bombings before their convictions were quashed in 1991.

'The bravest of the brave'

Sean Dempsey/PA Images Left to right is John Walker, Paddy Hill and Hugh Callaghan; the then MP Chris Mullin; Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter and William Powe. All wear suits. Sean Dempsey/PA Images
Paddy Hill, (second from the left), pictured with the other members of the Birmingham Six, outside the Old Bailey in London after their convictions were quashed, alongside then MP Chris Mullin

Mr Hill founded the Glasgow-based MOJO (Miscarriage of Justice Organisation) after his release, helping others who were imprisoned despite being innocent of the crimes they were accused of.

MOJO said its condolences were with Mr Hill's family "at this sad time".

"We ask that you respect the family's privacy," the statement added.

"May he rest in eternal peace."

The organisation said he was a survivor of the "first of the most far-reaching injustices to Irishmen in English courts".

"We share the belief of his lawyer and friend Gareth Peirce that Paddy was quite simply, the bravest of the brave."

Cathy Molloy, from MOJO, told BBC Newsline he had lost his "liberty" but had "such a big character and he wanted to make a difference so nobody else every experienced that."

'Extraordinarily brave human being of enduring importance'

Lawyer Gareth Peirce said that knowing him had been to "experience without respite his raw energy and relentless demand for radical change and just satisfaction beyond himself - and at the same time to see with unreserved admiration the often savage gallows humour that could keep others going through the worst of times, as well as the uniquely determined persona of an extraordinarily brave human being of enduring importance".

Speaking in 2017, Mr Hill said an apology from a man who said he was part of the group who planted the bombs was insulting to those bereaved.

The other members of the Birmingham Six are Gerry Hunter, Johnny Walker, Hugh Callaghan, Richard McIlkenny and Billy Power.

Mr Callaghan died in 2023 aged 93, and Mr McIlkenny died in 2006 aged 73.

You can learn more about the Birmingham Six here.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Claire Hanna said he was "decent, outspoken, combative and with no side to him".

She said he had "suffered the trauma and injustice of many lifetimes".