Guildford pub bombing case papers lost in police blunder

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Henry Vaughan

December 21 2018 02:30 AM

Five boxes of documents on the 1974 Guildford pub bombings have been destroyed, Surrey Police have admitted.

The blunder was blamed on a driver who left them in the wrong place, a pre-inquest review at Woking Coroner's Court heard.

A coroner is considering whether to resume a full inquest into the IRA attacks.

The original proceedings did not conclude after the Guildford Four were wrongfully convicted over the bombings, which killed four soldiers and a civilian.

They were handed life sentences, but had their convictions overturned in 1989, in one of the UK's most well-known miscarriages of justice.

Jeremy Johnson, representing Surrey Police, said: "It's known that five boxes of material have been destroyed, but they contain documents which, at least to a large extent and possibly to a complete extent, are copied elsewhere."

Coroner Richard Travers said he would hand down his judgment on whether to resume a full inquest on January 31.