From Wondery, I'm Matt Ford.

And I'm Alice Levine.

And this is British Scandal. Alice, it's our first ever miscarriage of justice.

Has this been scandalous enough for you?

It's been horrendous is what it's been, hasn't it?

We've had abuse in custody, spurious evidence of a forensic kind,

if you can even call it that when you get down to it,

forced confessions which were then doctored and not even doctored subtly, just the arrogance of it,

cover up after cover up, and it's just been shocking every single episode.

And then six men got locked up for 16 years.

Yes, it felt like the 70s and 80s were the Wild West when it came to policing

because the police felt they were untouchable and they were because they enjoyed so much

public confidence.

And of course, the public want to believe that the right men have been caught because of the

horrific magnitude of the crime.

But there was one man who was willing to question the evidence and effectively police the police.

He led a lengthy campaign that upended the forensics.

He exposed police corruption and brutality.

He found the real bombers and even had one of them confess on camera.

And his campaign ultimately led to the release and exoneration of the Birmingham 6.

And Alice, we have got him here today.

Don't tease me.

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