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Paddy Armstrong

"I'm the happiest man alive" - Paddy Armstrong on spending 15 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. And what do rates actually pay for?

On 5 October 1974 the IRA detonated two six-pound gelignite bombs at two pubs in Guildford, in Surrey, that were popular with the army. Four soldiers and one civilian were killed, and a further 65 were wounded. A similar bomb, with the addition of shrapnel, was thrown into the Kings Arms pub in Woolwich on 7 November. Gunner Richard Dunne and Alan Horsley, a sales clerk, died in that explosion. It had nothing to do with Paddy Armstrong, in his twenties at the time. It had nothing to do with Paul Hill, Gerard Conlon, or Carole Richardson, but three months after the bombings, they were arrested and after several days in the custody of the Surrey police they confessed to the bombings. They would become known as the Guildford Four. Paddy Armstrong, one of the four, spent 15 years in prison. He describes himself as "the happiest man alive".

And, "what do my rates actually pay for?" That's the question from local businessman Karl Ennis. He has just opened this new cafΓ©, Thran Maggies on Shipquay Street. He has been billed Β£12,970 - for one year.

1 hour, 30 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Nov 2017 13:30

Clip

Broadcast

  • Thu 23 Nov 2017 13:30