This is a strange case for HumanRights TV because Gary McKinnon is unquestionably (by his own words) guilty of hacking US military and defence computers. But the breach in human rights is the way this case has been handled and continues to be handled by the US and the British governments. We are very busy prosecuting a young man with a mental health problem, a mental health problem that led to the  crime being committed. On that issue alone we have to support Gary Mckinnon no matter what we think about the rest of the case.

On the evening of Monday, 11th October 2004, a large group of youths gathered on the St Luke's housing estate in the Finsbury area of the London Borough of Islington. Some were armed with baseball bats and at least one with a knife. Most had come from the neighbouring area of Hoxton in Hackney. Contrary to its media depiction as a fashionable artists' quarter, Hoxton has a largely working-class population with the majority of residents living on post-war council housing estates.

Paul Blackburn writes about his experience in this book. Paul Blackburn's story in his own words is on the Innocent Network UK channel on HumanRights TV. Click on link below to view the series.

Why we are here

Another childhood stolen by the state

Paul Blackburn was convicted at the age of 15 and an appeal date (24-25th May 2005) is finally set free after 25 years of delay

by L A Naylor

Paul Blackburn was convicted in December 1978 for the attempted murder of a nine-year-old boy.

He had been interrogated for 5 hours without a solicitor present, and alleges that he would have confessed to ‘anything’ given the oppressive nature of the officers’ questioning.

The INUK has three core aims :

Educate:

to encourage and support the creation and subsequent running of member innocence projects in UK universities.

Research:
to conduct and facilitate research into, among other related things:
i) the causes of the wrongful conviction of the innocent;
ii) the barriers to attempts to overturn these convictions in the Court of Appeal or by application to the CCRC; and
iii) the associated harmful consequences of wrongful conviction on victims, their families, friends and society as a whole.

Miscarriages of Justice: Exceptions to the Rule?