| Summary |
"Martin Foran's explanation of his ordeal on Amazon.com's webpage for the book: "How do I begin to explain the endless years of pain and sorrow the West Midlands police had planned for me, for it must have been planned, with the result that my life has been a living hell for over forty years How did it happen? How did it all start? I was no one special, I hurt no one, and, looking back, I now feel my only crime was the land of my birth, for being Irish. In the 1970's and 1980's it was a nightmare in the West Midlands, because of the IRA bombings. The sound of your voice branded you IRA, and it didn't matter how long you'd lived in Birmingham, or that you were married there or even that your children were born there. If you were Irish, you became an easy target for the Serious Crime Squad to fit you up. Nor did the IRA give a damn about the suffering they could cause to all innocent people, for they ignored the fact that the bombings hurt Irish people too. So, I had two evils to contend with, the IRA and the ruthlessly dishonest Serious Crime Squad. After the IRA bombings, who was going to hear the voice of a lone Irishman crying "I'm innocent"? Even worse, who would hear the voice of an Irishman saying; "Oh no, they've framed me again!" Nobody heard my cries for help and nobody cared. My only voice and my only hope, was my wife Val. Hers was the greatest pain of all, left with two children and another on the way. Not only did the Serious Crime Squad take away her husband, they even stole the money we had just taken out as a loan from The Provident for a pram. Her suffering and sorrow was immense due to the endless days of walking around begging for someone to hear her cries; "Please help my husband, he is innocent," while dragging two children from prison to prison, through hail, rain and snow and at the same time knowing police were telling her husband to plead guilty or they would put our children into care. This all became too much for my pregnant wife and caused our child Valerie to be born deaf! But so great was her love for me, nobody could stop her protesting for endless years and visiting the many prisons I occupied. Never has any woman stood by her man as steadfastly as she stood by me. How could a police force get so rotten? You will ponder this as you read from the endless news cuttings and the protests outside prisons and police stations. Such was the power of the Serious Crime Squad; it seemed to be greater than the courts. Even the Home Office and Appeal Courts must have been involved for them to get away with so much before they were eventually rumbled and disbanded. You will see that everything I recount in this book either has been already vindicated and the conviction quashed or is in the process of being so by the latest decisions made by the courts and the country's leading judges. With only a short time to live, I am grateful to John Stephenson for agreeing to write my story and for the many hours we have spent discussing my arrests, convictions, prison experience and subsequent appeals. This has enabled me to explain and record my 40 year fight to clear my name and seek ultimate justice for the wrongs which I and my family have endured."" |