An attempt by an English barrister to prevent two members of the Birmingham Six from pursuing an action against him in the Irish courts for damages for alleged libel was rejected by the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly refused an application by Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC, who was appointed in 1992 as Independent Commissioner for the Holding Centre in Northern Ireland, to strike out proceedings taken by Mr Gerry Hunter and Mr Hugh Callaghan.
They claim they were libelled in a booklet written by Sir Louis, The Birmingham Six and Other Cases - Victims of Circumstance, published by Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd, of Hoxton Square, London. They said they were victims of a miscarriage of justice in England arising out of the aftermath of the 1971 Birmingham pub bombings. They claim Sir Louis's booklet is defamatory of both of them and contains statements which mean the quashing of their convictions after 16 years in jail did and does not imply they were entitled to be presumed innocent.
They also claim the booklet infers it was not the English criminal justice system which was wrong in the case but the campaign for their release. Mr Hunter and Mr Callaghan instituted proceedings against both Sir Louis and Duckworths in 1998.
In his reserved judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly noted Mr Hunter had said he had decided to take proceedings in Ireland because he was very concerned about the damaging effect of the booklet to his reputation in Ireland.
The judge also noted Sir Louis had discussions with the publishers about the desirability of not disseminating the book in Ireland.
Given the issues in the book, the proximity of England to Ireland and the interest likely to be shown in the topic here, it was almost inevitable publication would occur here. What Sir Louis did fell very short of taking effective steps to ensure there would be no publication.
He dismissed the application.
