But the police did falsify confessions and it would have been hard to grant appeals on any grounds if they had been put to death in the 1970's. They were totally innocent of those bombings but the state would have hung them all
Because you can reverse a decision and release someone or declare then innocent after their sentence, harder to put things right if you have hung them. The ability to appeal ends if you stop breathing
I know I keep repeating this but plenty of people have been released from jail after years after guilty verdicts and many appeals. When is it safe to says there is 'no doubt'.
I was trying to avoid having to write my second post as it was far more blunt and this is a football forum, thought people would understand what I meant by 'boys' in the context of a discussion about terrorists. I do not class them as 'men' personally!