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The M62 coach bombing, sometimes referred to as the M62 Massacre, occurred on 4 February 1974 on the
M62 motorway
The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...
in
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, when a 25-pound (11 kg)
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
(IRA) bomb hidden inside the luggage locker of a coach carrying off-duty
British Armed Forces personnel and their family members exploded, killing twelve people (nine soldiers and three civilians) and injuring thirty-eight others aboard the vehicle.
Ten days after the bombing, 25-year-old Judith Ward was arrested in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
while waiting to board a ferry to
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
She was later convicted of the M62 coach bombing and two other separate, non-fatal attacks and remained incarcerated until her
conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is cons ...
was quashed by the
Court of Appeal in 1992, with the court hearing Government
forensic scientists
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...
had deliberately withheld information from her defence counsel at her October 1974 trial which strongly indicated her innocence. As such, her conviction was declared
unsafe.
Ward was released from prison in May 1992, having served over 17 years of a sentence of
life imprisonment plus thirty years. Her
wrongful conviction
A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...
is seen as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
The M62 coach bomb has been described as "one of the IRA's worst
mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
terror attacks" and remains one of the deadliest mainland acts of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
.
The bombing
The bombed coach had been specially commissioned to carry
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
personnel—on weekend leave with their families—to and from bases at
Catterick and
Darlington during a period of railway
strike action sourcing from a
labour dispute
A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during co ...
.
The vehicle itself had departed from
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
in the late evening of Sunday 3 February and was travelling at approximately along the M62 motorway en route to Catterick Garrison. Shortly after midnight, as most of those aboard were sleeping and when the bus was travelling between junctions 26 and 27 of the M62, the bomb—concealed within a suitcase or similar parcel inside the coach's luggage compartment—exploded.
The explosion reduced the rear of the coach to a "tangle of twisted metal", trapping several casualties within the debris and throwing individuals and severed limbs up to upon and around the motorway.
[p. 240, Williams & Head] No other vehicle was damaged in the explosion, although the vehicle travelling immediately behind the coach is known to have ploughed into the scattered debris of the rear of the coach. The coach itself travelled for more than before the driver, 39-year-old Roland Handley (himself injured by flying glass), was able to steer the coach to a halt upon the
hard shoulder
A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wide ...
.
Immediate efforts
One surviving soldier later described his recollections of having been blown through the emergency doors of the coach, only to find himself lying upon the ground viewing a "mangled wreck". This soldier later assisted a young girl aged approximately 17 with injured legs whom he found lying on her back approximately "back up the
otorway. According to this individual, the girl had repeatedly hysterically screamed: "My God! The floor just opened up and I fell through!" as he provided medical assistance.
Another survivor, nine-year-old David Dendeck, regained
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
to find himself trapped in the wreckage of the coach listening to his 14-year-old sister, Catherine, shouting his name as he observed other survivors "screaming and running up the verge" alongside the coach.
One of the first motorists to offer assistance after Handley had navigated the coach to a halt was John Clark, who later recollected seeing a young man lying upon the motorway with one leg partially severed and the body of a child, stating: "It was just absolutely ... unbelievable. It was dark, so you couldn't see how bad the injuries really were, but it was the smell of it. It was absolutely total carnage."
The entrance hall of the nearby westbound section of the
Hartshead Moor service station was used as an impromptu first aid station for those wounded in the blast. Off-duty staff at
Bradford Royal Infirmary
Bradford Royal Infirmary is a large teaching hospital in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and is operated by the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The infirmary is affiliated with the Leeds School of Medicine
The School ...
and Batley General Hospital were also contacted and encouraged to report for duty in response to the emergency.
Fatalities
The explosion killed eleven people outright and wounded over thirty others, one of whom died four days later. Amongst the dead were nine soldiers – two from the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, three from the
Royal Corps of Signals and four from the 2nd Battalion
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as the Royal Fusiliers or, simply, the Fusiliers) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st battalion, part o ...
. Four of the servicemen killed in the bombing were teenagers and all but one of the serving personnel killed in the explosion hailed from
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
. Twelve others upon the coach suffered severe injuries, including a six-year-old boy, who was badly burned.
![M62coachbombmemorialplaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/M62coachbombmemorialplaque.JPG)
One member of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers killed in the explosion was 23-year-old
Corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
Clifford Haughton, whose entire family, consisting of his wife, Linda (also 23), and sons Lee, aged 5, and Robert, aged 2, were also killed. All four had been sitting directly above the bomb, and all were killed instantly.
Reaction
Although mainland Britain had seen several IRA attacks—successful or otherwise—within the previous year, the M62 coach bombing was the most severe attack upon the mainland to date.
Press and public alike were incensed, with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
describing the bombing as "one of the IRA's worst mainland terror attacks"
and national newspapers such as ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' describing the atrocity as an "IRA outrage on the British mainland".
In
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, the
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...
launched a renewed wave of revenge attacks on
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...
s in response to the M62 coach bomb, promising their campaign of
sectarian violence
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion ...
would continue unabated "until the IRA ceased
heirbombing in England". Within days of the bombings,
loyalists
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
had shot and killed three Catholic civilians and wounded a further eight, some critically.
[''The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough Art Heist'' ch. 10]
Politicians from all three major parties called for "swift justice" against the perpetrator or perpetrators and the IRA in general.
[p. 241, Williams & Head] Within twenty-four hours of the explosion, demands had been heard in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
that
Irish citizens entering Britain be required to carry passports and other forms of identification at all times. The
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
,
Ian Gilmour
Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, (8 July 1926 – 21 September 2007) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his fat ...
, confirmed on 5 February these existing laws were to be reviewed.
IRA Army Council response
In an interview shortly after the bombing,
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Grea ...
member
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill (English: ''David O'Connell'') (May 1938 – 1 January 1991) was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council of the Provisional IRA, and vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the firs ...
was challenged over the choice of target, the lack of the official IRA protocol of a given advance warning, and the resulting deaths of civilians, including children. Ó Conaill replied that the coach was selected as a legitimate target because IRA intelligence had indicated that the vehicle was commissioned to carry military personnel only.
Investigation
Although a police spokesman initially emphasised that investigators were keeping an "open mind" as to the cause of the explosion, in the days immediately following the bombing, suspicion quickly fell upon the IRA, which had extended its campaign to England the previous year and had recently begun efforts to force the
British Government to transfer four IRA members serving life imprisonment in English jails and currently engaging in
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
s to prisons in Northern Ireland.
The construction of the explosive device was typical of those used by the IRA. An analysis of fragments of the
timing device recovered at the scene of the explosion revealed the device may have been set to detonate up to one hour before the explosion. As the vehicle had stopped in
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...
,
Manchester Chorlton Street coach station
Manchester Chorlton Street coach station or Manchester Central coach station is an InterCity bus and coach station in Manchester, England. The station is operated by National Express Coaches, who provide the majority of services.
History
The s ...
, and finally
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
to collect returning service personnel and their families prior to travelling towards Catterick Garrison, a possibility existed the device could have been placed in the vehicle in any of these three locations, although the timing of the explosion indicated the device would unlikely have been placed upon the vehicle in Huddersfield.
Investigators initially remained open-minded as to whether the perpetrator was a member of a UK-based
cell
Cell most often refers to:
* Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life
Cell may also refer to:
Locations
* Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...
, or had travelled across from Northern Ireland to commit the atrocity, as had been the case with regards to a
previous IRA bombing at the Old Bailey.
Arrest of Judith Ward
At 6:30 a.m. on 14 February, police encountered a 25-year-old
mentally ill
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
woman named Judith Teresa Ward standing in a shop doorway in
Liverpool city centre
Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool, England.
The inner city districts of Vauxhall, Everton, Edge Hill, Kensington and Toxteth mark the border with Liverpool city centre which consi ...
, seeking shelter from the cold and rain. As her driving licence had been issued in Northern Ireland and a letter from the
Royal Ulster Constabulary was also found in her possession, Ward was detained for questioning.
Police quickly discovered the address on Ward's driving licence was false. She was then asked how she intended to travel to Ireland with very little money in her possession. In response, she claimed to have intended to telephone a friend in Ireland who would send her the money. The same evening, with Ward's consent,
forensic scientist
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
Frank Skuse obtained
swab samples from her hands and fingernails to conduct
Griess test
The Griess test is an analytical chemistry test which detects the presence of nitrite ion in solution. One of its most important uses is the determination of nitrite in drinking water. The Griess diazotization reaction, on which the Griess reage ...
s. These tests revealed what Skuse described as "faint traces" of
nitrites upon one of her nails. A subsequent forensic examination by Dr Skuse of a caravan in which Ward had recently lived prior to her arrest also revealed what he concluded to be traces
nitroglycerin upon a duffel bag and other personal possessions.
According to police, shortly thereafter, Ward—who is known to have suffered from a
personality disorder
Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...
[''Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles'' p. 435]—made a verbal statement claiming to have been a member of the IRA since 1971, but that "after
he M62 coach bombingI just want out". The following day, she was transferred to the custody of
West Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers.
History
West Yor ...
to be questioned further with regards to the M62 coach bombing.
Confessions
The ensuing police investigation was led by
Detective Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the British model.
Rank insignia of chief superintendent
File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police
File:RCMP Chief Superintendent.png ...
George Oldfield. This investigation would prove to be rushed, careless and ultimately forged, but culminated in Ward claiming culpability for the M62 coach bombing and two separate, non-fatal explosions. Initially, Ward was questioned by two members of the
Metropolitan Police Service at
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
's Police Training College. The conclusion of the
Detective Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
and
Detective Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
following the first of their three interviews with Ward on 16 February was that she held "poor knowledge" of the construction of explosive devices and, although discrepancies were noted between the various oral statements Ward made and earlier statements she and others had provided to investigators, by 7:45 p.m., Ward had provided a written confession claiming culpability for the M62 coach bombing. She would initially be charged with
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
to cause an explosion on the M62 motorway on 18 February.
According to Ward's confessions, she was an "IRA volunteer" who had planted the M62 coach bomb in the luggage compartment of the coach while the vehicle was parked at Manchester Chorlton Street coach station. The luggage compartment had already been open when she, "shaking like a leaf", placed the bag containing the bomb between "a few army issue bags" in the luggage compartment. She had then turned and "legged it" out of the station, expecting the bomb to explode in twenty minutes.
By 25 February, West Yorkshire investigators had established that Ward's employment with a travelling circus had taken her to the
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
of
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...
in the
Cotswold Hills on 3 February. Over a dozen independent witnesses were able to confirm this fact, thus meaning Ward could not have physically placed the bomb upon the coach as she had previously claimed. According to official records, on this date, Ward asked to see a Detective Superintendent Weight, exclaiming: "I want to see you about that statement I made to the other officers. I want to change it. I didn't put the bomb on that bus." The records further state Weight replied, "Yes, I know that." Ward then changed her statement to claim she had transported the bomb from
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
to a house in
Longsight, Manchester and that, as the circus was to travel to Chipping Norton on the intended date of the bombing, she informed the two occupants of the house they would "have to do" the bombing. Ward then volunteered she "
new
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
something about the
Latimer job" she also wished to confess. The following day, in the presence of George Oldfield, Ward wrote a confession claiming culpability for transporting the explosives used in the September 1973
Euston bombing.
Ward also claimed to have conducted a string of operational activities for the IRA in both
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
and mainland Britain in 1973 and 1974, to have been married to a deceased IRA member named
Michael McVerry
Michael McVerry (1 December 1949 – 15 November 1973), was a Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and Officer Commanding of the First Battalion of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade. He was killed in Keady in 1973.
McVerry was born ...
,
and to have borne a child to another IRA member. However, although a supporter of
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
and likely knowing several individuals involved in IRA activity, she had no firm connections with the IRA. The IRA would subsequently issue a statement confirming this fact.
The following month, Ward was shown a written copy of the statement she had provided on 16 February. She emphatically denied sections of the statement, insisting several claims she had supposedly made had been fabricated by investigators, although she did concede she had made some false claims regarding transporting what she believed to be explosives in a direct response to pressure from a Detective Superintendent Moffatt.
On 11 and 18 June—after Ward had been formally charged with various atrocities including the M62 coach bombing and without the knowledge of her
solicitor—Oldfield again questioned Ward. The records of these interviews were removed from police files and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service for security reasons. Early the following month, Ward attempted suicide by cutting her wrist shortly after being diagnosed with severe
depression and on 24 August, a night orderly officer observed her attempting to injure her wrists by incessantly rubbing them against her bed straps.
Suspect background
Ward had been born in
Stockport, England, on 10 January 1949. She was the second of five children born to an English mother and an Irish father. Contemporary records indicate she was a lonely child who was raised in a broken home. Upon leaving school in 1965, Ward trained as a riding instructor and
stable hand in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England before obtaining employment at a riding school in
Ravensdale, County Louth
Ravensdale (Irish: ''Gleann na bhFiach''. Also sometimes known in Irish as ''Dubhleargaidh'' or ''An Dúleargaidh'', which can be anglicised as Doolargy) is a hamlet and area located at the foothills of the Cooley Mountains on the Cooley Peninsu ...
, Ireland, close to the town of
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
. In the years between leaving school and her arrest, she had frequently divided her time between Ravensdale, Wiltshire, and her home town of Stockport, which she had first returned to from Dundalk in October 1970.
In February 1971, Ward enlisted in the
Women's Royal Army Corps
The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and cha ...
(WRAC). Her basic training saw Ward spend approximately four months at Catterick Garrison before she was transferred to
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
on 5 August 1971 to serve as a communications centre operator. Two months later, Ward went
absent without leave
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which a ...
and returned to Dundalk, where she briefly became engaged to a young man named Sean McKeowan. Although McKeowan himself was disinterested in any form of politics, Ward is known to have frequently drunk in Dundalk pubs where, according to acquaintances, she frequently socialised with men affiliated with the
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...
.
She is also known to have briefly lived under the alias Teresa O'Connell, on one occasion listing her age when briefly detained by the Royal Ulster Constabulary as 14 years, eight months.
The following year, Ward returned to England, being
discharged
Discharge may refer to
Expel or let go
* Discharge, the act of firing a gun
* Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer
* Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...
from the WRAC shortly thereafter. She briefly worked in a restaurant before returning to Dundalk to again work as a riding instructor in August 1972. She returned to England the following summer; initially residing with family in Stanbury Place,
Offerton, Stockport.
On 26 August 1973, Ward was discovered sleeping rough on the concourse of
Euston railway station and detained for questioning. Shortly thereafter, she obtained employment as a chambermaid at a hotel near the
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is an area around a major road junction in London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground stati ...
. This employment lasted until she was dismissed on 10 November. The same day, Ward travelled to Ireland via
Holyhead.
January–February 1974
In the weeks prior to her arrest, Ward had lived a somewhat nomadic and
destitute
Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...
lifestyle; alternately sleeping rough around Euston station and hitchhiking to locations such as
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
to temporarily sleep at the house of an acquaintance. Less than two weeks prior to her arrest, Ward obtained employment as a groom with Chipperfields Circus. She commenced her employment with the circus in
Belle Vue, Manchester
Belle Vue is an area of Manchester, England, east of the city centre, bordered by the Hope Valley Line on the east and the Glossop Line on the west. Belle Vue is part of the electoral ward of Longsight. Belle Vue railway station lies on the ...
on 26 January. Shortly thereafter, the circus relocated to
the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
, arriving at Chipping Norton at approximately 2:30 a.m. on 3 February. That evening, Ward and several colleagues visited the local Blue Boar pub on nearby Goddards Lane, remaining at this venue for several hours. The following day, Ward quit her employment.
Ward's appeals state that in the days prior to her arrest, she had most often slept rough around Euston station and
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of ...
with a man named Ernest Mayall and a woman referred to in her appeal transcripts as a "
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
girl", both of whom she later claimed to have first met in London on 8 February. Four days later, she and Mayall travelled by bus to Cardiff, with Ward leaving the duffel bags she had purchased in Chipping Norton inside a freight container. The following day, Ward hitchhiked from Cardiff to Liverpool, arriving in Liverpool at approximately 11:30 p.m. on 13 February. She was planning to travel to
Newry
Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry ...
, Northern Ireland when arrested early the following day.
Trial
The trial of Judith Ward began before Mr Justice Waller at Wakefield Crown Court on 3 October 1974. She was charged with fifteen separate offences consisting of twelve charges of murder relating to the fatalities of the M62 coach bombing, causing an explosion likely to endanger life and property with regards to this particular incident, and two separate, non-fatal IRA attacks at Euston railway station and the Latimer
National Defence College committed in September 1973 and February 1974 respectively. Ward pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Initial
arraignment hearings were held on this date.
Although Ward's confessions had been coerced and distorted by some members of the investigating team prior to her trial,
all the content within her confessions was presented by the prosecution as being "backed up by overwhelming
scientific evidence".
Prosecutor John Cobb
QC described Ward as an IRA agent, active in "major operations" on mainland Britain.
The prosecution's case was almost completely based on her own claims of culpability (which Ward had retracted prior to her trial),
weak
circumstantial evidence and what would later be described as "demonstrably wrong" scientific evidence delivered by four witnesses who testified on behalf of the prosecution, which had sourced from the Griess tests conducted by Dr Skuse and others.
To support the prosecution's contentions, several witnesses testified as to verbal statements Ward had made indicating her sympathies with the concept of
Irish republicanism
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
. A member of the Metropolitan Police Service was also called to testify as to statements Ward had made following her August 1973 arrest for vagrancy in London in which she had claimed to police to have "carried out assignments" for the IRA, but was not a member of the organisation. On 23 October, Ward repeated her disprovable claims to have been married to the deceased Michael McVerry.
Ward's defence attorney, Andrew Rankin, QC, refuted the prosecution contentions, insisting the
forensic evidence
Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts".
H ...
presented could be easily explained as sourcing from
cross-contamination and describing his client as a "female
Walter Mitty
Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and in book form in '' My World—and Welcome to It'' in 1942. Thurber ...
" character, for whom fantasy had become reality, who was perhaps seeking notoriety in
Irish folklore
Irish folklore ( ga, béaloideas) refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance, and so forth, ultimately, all of folk culture.
Irish folklore, when mentioned to many people, conjures up images of banshees, fairies, leprechauns and people gat ...
. Referencing the "rambling, incoherent and improbable" statements Ward had made to police, Rankin outlined the numerous inconsistencies and alterations she had made which indicated she had not been telling the truth and stressed to the jury the IRA would be extremely unlikely to accept or to trust an individual of sheer incompetence and who had, prior to 1974, come to the attention of the police and the Army in both Northern Ireland and England on several occasions.
The accuracy of the forensic testimony of the experts who testified that Ward's hands and possessions had tested positive for traces of nitroglycerin was seldom challenged by Ward's defence counsel, who contended she and her possessions may have become cross-contaminated via contact with an acquaintance who had been the original source of the traces of explosive materials. The prosecution witnesses refuted these claims.
Closing arguments
In their
closing argument
A closing argument, summation, or summing up is the concluding statement of each party's counsel reiterating the important arguments for the trier of fact, often the jury, in a court case. A closing argument occurs after the presentation of evid ...
, prosecutor John Cobb repeatedly referred to the physical evidence which he portrayed as conclusive proof Ward had handled explosives, emphasising the insistence of Dr Skuse and others who had delivered forensic testimony on behalf of the prosecution that their findings were conclusive. Ward's confessions were also outlined as her willing admissions of guilt.
[''Blind Justice: Miscarriages of Justice in Twentieth-century Britain'' p. 367] Describing Ward as a ruthless individual with a sole passion for her "political aim" to unite all of Ireland. Acknowledging that others should also be prosecuted for the three bombings, Cobb concluded his speech by stating to the jury: "You are sitting in judgment on the gravest charge, short of
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, ever known. There are, perhaps, bigger fish in the sea, but
ard isno
sprat
Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus '' Sprattus'' in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish ('' Clupeoides'', '' Clupeonella'', '' Corica'' ...
".
Ward's attorney, Andrew Rankin, again disputed the sourcing of the traces of explosive material, insisting Ward had inadvertently become cross-contaminated and reiterating his client's ineptitude, vivid fantasy life, and the numerous inconsistencies within her repeatedly altered statements. Rankin then asked the jury to question why, had Ward been active within the IRA, did she not attempt to flee the country following the M62 coach bomb rather than travelling to London, making no attempt to conceal her identity.
Conviction
The jury deliberated for five hours and forty minutes before reaching their verdicts.
On 4 November 1974, Ward was found guilty of all charges. She was sentenced to serve five years' imprisonment in relation to the Euston railway station bombing, twenty years' imprisonment in relation to the coach bombing, to be served
concurrent
Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to:
Law
* Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea''
* Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
ly with the sentence relating to the Euston bombing, twelve concurrent terms of
life imprisonment with no recommended minimum term of imprisonment in relation to each of the fatalities of the coach bombing, plus ten years' consecutive imprisonment in relation to the Latimer bombing, thus meaning she would have to serve a minimum sentence of thirty years' imprisonment before being eligible for parole.
Ward remained impassive as the verdict was read aloud, although members of her family—who remained steadfast in their belief of her innocence—burst into tears. She did not appeal her conviction, although she repeatedly protested her innocence throughout her years of incarceration.
Although the validity of her conviction was independently reviewed on three occasions between 1985 and 1989, and each review uncovered serious flaws with regards to the evidence presented at her trial and the legal conduct of various individuals prior to and following her confessions, she remained incarcerated at
HM Prison Durham
HM Prison Durham is a Georgian era reception Category B men's prison, located in the Elvet area of Durham in County Durham, England. Built in 1819, the prison continues to be operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Women prisoners were mov ...
before being transferred to
HM Prison Holloway
HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016.
His ...
in November 1990, where she remained as a
Category B prisoner.
IRA statement
Shortly after Ward's November 1974 convictions, the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau issued a formal statement pertaining to her arrest and conviction. This statement again emphasised that Ward had not been a member of the IRA and that she had taken no role in any of the activities for which she had been convicted,
stating:
Court of Appeal hearing
On 17 September 1991, the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
referred Ward's case to the
Court of Appeal, with the primary reasons for this referral being the validity of the scientific evidence presented by Dr Skuse and others at her trial, and that the prosecution had failed to
disclose relevant evidence to her defence team, as they had been legally obliged to do. Ward's appeal specifically listed 43 items of evidence "consisting of, or contained in
witness statement
A witness statement is a signed document recording the evidence of a witness. A definition used in England and Wales is "a written statement signed by a person which contains the evidence which that person would be allowed to give orally".
The U ...
s, notes of interviews and reports (including medical reports)" which had not been disclosed at her trial.
In May 1992, Ward's lawyers illustrated the fundamental flaws in the
physical evidence
In evidence law, physical evidence (also called real evidence or material evidence) is any material object that plays some role in the matter that gave rise to the litigation, introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding (such as a trial) to ...
presented at her trial before three Court of Appeal judges. Her
barrister,
Michael Mansfield, QC, contended there had been a "significant and substantial non-disclosure" of evidence and information which had strongly indicated her innocence, and that of the 63 interviews West Yorkshire Police had conducted with Ward before and after her confession, only 34 had been disclosed at trial.
Furthermore, the court also heard that the handling of
lacquers, boot polish and other commodities in common public use by any individual would produce the same positive results presented at Ward's trial as proof of their having handled—or come into contact with—explosive substances, as contended by Dr Skuse and others. This information was known to forensic experts in 1974, but had also never been disclosed at her original trial, or in the intervening years despite her protestations of innocence and subsequent developments with regards to other uncovered miscarriages of justice.
The evidence presented at Ward's appeal also heard that although police, forensic experts,
psychiatrists and prosecutors had withheld multiple documents from the prosecution counsel at her original trial, that of the evidence the prosecution team had actually been provided access to, the prosecution had themselves withheld much of their own evidence from Ward's own defence counsel.
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
also heard that although Ward was insistent she had not been subjected to physical violence by interrogators,
at the time of her false confessions, she suffered from a severe personality disorder which had arisen from acute loneliness, insecurity and sexual identity conflicts, and that her confessions had been obtained under extreme duress and her desire to simply "be left alone".
The Court of Appeal ruled unanimously the conviction of Judith Ward was "a grave miscarriage of justice" and conceded her confession had ultimately been obtained by law enforcement personnel "under pressure to
btaina confession" from an individual regarding his or her culpability in the atrocities.
Delivering final judgment at the conclusion of these appeal hearings,
Lord Justice Iain Glidewell
Sir Iain Glidewell PC (8 June 1924 – 8 May 2016) was a Lord Justice of Appeal and Judge of Appeal of the High Court of the Isle of Man. He was made a privy councillor in 1985.
He was educated at Bromsgrove School and Worcester College, Oxf ...
stated: "Our law does not permit a conviction to be secured by ambush."
Release
Ward was released on bail, pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings of her appeal,
on 11 May 1992, with Lord Justice Glidewell not immediately dismissing the charges against Ward, but stating a reversal of her sentence was fully expected. She exited the courtroom to a positive public reaction, having wrongly served over seventeen years' imprisonment. Although Ward was the first of eighteen innocent English and Irish nationals known to have been falsely convicted of IRA atrocities, she was the last to be released from custody.
Upon exiting the court, Ward shouted to all present, "Eighteen years! Freedom! After eighteen years, it's brilliant!" before being driven to a secret,
safe address pending the conclusion of the legal hearings. Shortly thereafter, on 4 June, her conviction was formally overturned. Ward was later compensated for her wrongful conviction.
Aftermath
The most enduring consequence of the M62 coach bombing was the adoption of much stricter
anti-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
laws in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and Northern Ireland. These laws enabled police to hold individuals suspected of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
for up to seven days without charge, and to deport these individuals to Northern Ireland to face trial, where special courts with specific rules applying to terrorism suspects were based.
A memorial to those killed in the M62 coach bombing was later erected at Hartshead Moor service station, where many of the casualties had received impromptu first aid following the explosion.
Following a campaign by relatives of the deceased, a larger memorial was later erected several yards away from the entrance hall to the service station, close to an
English oak tree planted in 2009 in memory of the deceased. This memorial stone also bears a plaque inscribed with the names and ages of those who died.
The service station itself is the venue for annual memorial services commemorating those killed, injured and bereaved by the atrocity. These annual services are regularly attended by the Mayors of
Kirklees
Kirklees is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Kirklees Council with the status of a metropolitan borough. The largest town and administrative centre of Kirklees is Huddersfield, and the district also includes ...
,
Calderdale and Oldham in addition to members of the
Royal British Legion
The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ...
.
![M62 bombing memorial 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/M62_bombing_memorial_1.JPG)
A memorial plaque engraved with the names and ages of the fatalities of the M62 coach bomb was also unveiled in Oldham, the home town of two of the fatalities, in 2010.
Judith Ward initially struggled with life as a free woman following the overturning of her conviction, in part because of the lack of a support structure she received from society after she had been formally
exonerated
Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially w ...
. In 1996, Ward recollected to a reporter that, immediately prior to her release from prison, she was simply "given £35 and a hand-written note to produce at
he DSS" before being released from custody with no individuals to offer advice, therapy, or other forms of support. As had earlier been the case with
Gerry Conlon
Gerard Patrick "Gerry" Conlon (1 March 1954 – 21 June 2014) was an Irish man known for being one of the Guildford Four who spent 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of being a Provisional IRA bomber.
Biography
Gerard Conlon was ...
of the
Guildford Four
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, Ward initially resided with solicitor
Gareth Peirce
Gareth Peirce (born Jean Margaret Webb; March 1940) is a British solicitor and human rights activist. She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work with Gerry Conlon and the Guildf ...
until a secure home could be found for her.
Ward later wrote an autobiography, ''Ambushed: My Story'', detailing her life, conviction, exoneration, and subsequent experiences following her release from prison. She later became a campaigner for prisoners' rights with the Britain and Ireland Human Rights Centre.
In October 1985, Dr Frank Skuse was ordered by the
Home Office to retire on the grounds of "limited efficiency" just days after the broadcasting of a ''
World in Action
''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' documentary which strongly questioned his competency. Within a year of his retirement, all 350 cases in which Skuse had provided forensic evidence throughout his career had been reassessed.
The actual perpetrator or perpetrators of the M62 coach bombing were never arrested or convicted.
See also
*
Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1970–79)
*
List of miscarriage of justice cases
This is a list of miscarriage of justice cases. This list includes cases where a convicted individual was later cleared of the crime and either has received an official exoneration, or a consensus exists that the individual was unjustly punished ...
*
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
Notes
References
Cited works and further reading
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External links
''Archive footage''of the M62 coach bombing
* Contemporary
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