Birmingham Six man dies; PUB BOMBINGS: Wrongly jailed McIlkenny dies with family at hospital bedside.

Byline: By Mail Reporter

RICHARD McIlkenny, one of six men wrongly imprisoned for the Birmingham pub bombings which killed 21 people, has died in hospital.

Mr McIlkenny, aged 73, had been battling cancer for some time and died yesterday at the James Connolly Hospital, Dublin

His family were at his bedside.

Originally from Belfast, Mr McIlkenny joined the Irish Army in 1952, serving four years before emigrating to England.

He was a factory worker in England and was living in Birmingham when he was detained, along with friends, by Special Branch detectives on November 21, 1974, after two pubs in the city centre were bombed.

He was interrogated and beaten by police for three days until he signed a false confession admitting to bombing the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town pubs, killing 21 people and injuring 162.

On November 24, 1974, Mr McIlkenny was jailed for life for murder along with Patrick Hill, Gerry Hunter, Hugh Callaghan, Billy Power and Johnny Walker.

They were denied leave to appeal and forced to wait until 1987, when, in the light of new evidence, their case was referred to the Court of Appeal before being rejected.

Mass public protests in Ireland and in England kept their case alive until 1990, when forensic investigations showed the confessions to police had been tampered with. In 1991, the six men's convictions were quashed and they were released after 16 years in jail.

CAPTION(S):

ACCUSED...Richard McIlkenny.' FREE... Richard McIlkenny (third from right) leaves jail after MP Chris Mullin (centre) campaigned for the Birmingham Six.