Michael Havers

Michael Havers
Born	1923-03-10
Died	1992-04-01 (Age 69)
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Children	• Philip • Nigel
Spouse	Carol Elizabeth Lay
Member of	Nobody's Friends
Party	Conservative
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain In office 13 June 1987 - 26 October 1987 Preceded by Quintin Hogg  Attorney General for England and Wales  In office 6 May 1979 - 13 June 1987 Succeeded by Patrick Mayhew  Attorney General for Northern Ireland  In office 6 May 1979 - 13 June 1987 Succeeded by Patrick Mayhew  Shadow Attorney General  In office 18 February 1975 - 4 May 1979  Solicitor General for England and Wales  In office 5 November 1972 - 4 March 1974 Preceded by Geoffrey Howe  Member of Parliament for Wimbledon In office 18 June 1970 - 11 June 1987

Decision not to prosecute Peter Hayman

In April 1981 as UK Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers stated in parliament that while Peter Hayman was a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, he was never a member of the executive committee, so was not prosecuted as others were for publishing contact advertisements.

Role in the Guildford Four and Maguire Family miscarriages of justice

Havers represented the Crown in two of the most notable miscarriages of justice in British judicial history: the trial and appeal of the Guildford Four and also of the Maguire family (known as the Maguire Seven), all of whom were wrongfully convicted. Collectively, they served a total of 113 years in prison and one of the Maguire Seven, Giuseppe Conlon, died in prison, convicted on the basis of discredited forensic evidence.

In the case of the Guildford Four, the Director of Public Prosecutions was found to have suppressed alibi evidence that supported Gerry Conlon and Paul Hill’s claims of innocence. The Director of Public Prosecutions, for which Havers was acting, was also found to have suppressed confessions by Provisional IRA bombers, known as the Balcombe Street Gang that they had carried out the Guildford and Woolwich bombings.

In his submission to Sir John May's Inquiry into the Guildford and Woolwich bombings in 1989 Labour MP Chris Mullin cast doubt on Havers’s integrity in the matter:

Sir Michael Havers represented the Crown at the trials of the Guildford Four, Mrs. Maguire and her family and at the re-trial/appeal of the Guildford Four. He is, therefore, probably the person who can lay claim to the most detailed knowledge of this affair. I respectfully submit that any inquiry that passed without the benefit of his experience would be deficient....
The only hope of sustaining the original convictions was to rewrite the script from top to bottom. This Sir Michael and his colleagues proceeded to do with ingenuity and relish.

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References

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