Subseriescontains files relating to the case of Judith Ward. Includes correspondence, press cuttings, copy court records and a video recording.

Background to the case of Judith Ward

When Judith Ward was arrested sleeping rough in Liverpool, she quickly confessed to the bombing of a coach on 4 February 1974. The coach had been travelling along the M62 from Manchester to the Catterick army barracks in North Yorkshire; the explosion killed 12 people, including 2 children. She also claimed to be a lieutenant in the IRA. Forensic (Greiss) tests carried out by Dr Frank Skuse (the forensic scientist involved in the Birmingham case) found traces of nitro-glycerine under her fingernails. She received 12 life sentences for murder and a further 30 years for two other bombings (at Euston Station and the National Defence College) she had confessed to. While in Police custody Ward had made some 28 statements, which were riddled with inconsistencies and contrary information. The first of these were obtained in a period of 28 hours, during which Ward had not slept. The solicitors defending Judith Ward, and the Jury at the trial, were only made aware of information from a limited number of these statements, giving the impression of a much more coherent series of confessions. Ward had long had a reputation for fantasy, embellishment of the truth and outright lying to get attention. By the events of 1974, it is believed that her 'personality disorder' had become a full-blown mental illness. She has almost no memory of the events surrounding her arrest. Judith Ward was eventually released on 11 May 1992.

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