CAMPAIGNERS for the Bridgewater Four claimed a major victory yesterday after the British Home Secretary announced that he was to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.
In a statement, Mr Michael Howard said he had concluded "on a fine balance" that new representations from the men's lawyers offered enough reason to review the whole case.
Relatives of the four, one of whom died in prison, wept with joy when they were told that the case would finally be re examined in the wake of new submissions on fingerprint evidence and alleged breaches of legal rules.
Cousins Michael and Vincent Hickey and James Robinson were convicted in 1979 of murdering the 13 year old newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater. Patrick Molloy, who died in prison in 1981, was convicted of manslaughter.
The three have remained in jail despite numerous police inquiries into the case, a lengthy appeal hearing in the late 1980s and a long campaign which has maintained that they are victims of a miscarriage of justice.
Two former jurors and the chief prosecutor at the men's trial have publicly distanced themselves from the verdicts. The convictions were based largely on a confession by Pat Molloy, which he later claimed had been beaten out of him. He died protesting his innocence.
Welcoming the Home Secretary's announcement, Mr Ann Whelan, mother of Michael Hickey (33), said: "It's absolutely fantastic news. I was totally overwhelmed by the news as I had completely lost faith in right and wrong.
"It's been terrible, it really has. Not only my son the others. They have been up and down and Michael's been ill, Vince has tried to kill himself. . . It's just been ode long hard struggle, financially, emotionally, in every way possible."
She added that the decision to re examine the case was "a tremendous victory for justice, though it's 18 years overdue, might add."
Sarah McHugh of the Bridgewater Four Support Group said: "We are absolutely delighted that finally the Home Secretary has made the right decision. I am sure the men will be delighted too."
Mr Jim Nichol, the lawyer for the four, said he and his clients were elated at the news. "This is long, long overdue. This case has to be adjudicated by the court, not the Home Secretary, and that is what we have always wanted," he said.
The newspaper delivery boy was shot dead after apparently interrupting a burglary at the isolated Yew Tree Farm, Prestwood, Staffordshire, on September 19th, 1978.
The convictions were upheld by the Court of Appeal in 1989, and in 1993 the then Home Secretary, Mr Kenneth Clarke, refused to refer the case back to the Appeal Court for a second time. In December 1995, Mr Howard similarly refused to act, despite having reviewed the same fingerprint evidence which he has now ruled should be re examined.