AN IRISH MAN wrongly convicted of IRA bombing attacks on pubs in Birmingham in the 1970s has died at the age of 80.

Paddy Hill was jailed along with a group of men from Northern Ireland in a miscarriage of justice – they became known as the Birmingham Six. 

The Birmingham Six spent almost two decades in prison for the bombings before their convictions were quashed in 1991.

Some 21 people were killed in explosions at two Birmingham city centre pubs in November 1974.

The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO) announced the death of Paddy Hill on their Facebook page. It said that he died peacefully at home this morning.

“It is with great sorrow Paddy died this morning peacefully at home. Our condolences to his family at this sad time.

“We ask that you respect the family’s privacy,” the post read. 

Paddy Hill was a founding member of the group to help others.

Just three of the Birmingham Six are still living, including Gerry Hunter, John Walker and Billy Power.

Hugh Callaghan died in 2023 and Richard McIlkenny died in 2006.

SDLP Leader Claire Hanna led tributes to the death of the campaigner. 

“On behalf of the SDLP I extend deepest sympathies to the family of Paddy Hill, who I was fortunate to meet and spend time with in the past. He was a thoroughly Belfast man – decent, outspoken, combative and with no side to him.

“He suffered the trauma and injustice of many lifetimes, brutal treatment by the West Midlands Police, being framed, and suffering torturously long false imprisonment.

“He so often acknowledged the support of those who stood by the Birmingham Six and fought for their release, and was contemptuous of those whose actions had caused his suffering and that of the victims of the Birmingham massacre,” she said. 

She added that the creation of the MOJO organisation by Paddy Hill and fellow wrongly convicted Irish man Gerry Conlon “will be their legacy.”