HUNDREDS of miners who were convicted in the 1980s strike are set to be pardoned by the Scottish Government.
Today the Scottish Government will update MSPs on the convictions obtained during the 1984-85 strike.
The Scottish Government established an independent review into the convictions, and the body has now proposed the move. It would also pardon miners who have died since the strikes.
Last month the team reported that most of the miners’ actions would be unlikely to lead to a prosecution in 2020, adding those convicted believed they had been punished in a “grossly excessive manner”.
They said about 1400 miners were arrested during the nationwide 1984 strike, with 500 convicted.
“The impact of convictions went beyond the men affected, touching their families and communities, both in terms of the financial consequences of dismissal and unemployment, as well as confidence in the police, judiciary and the state,” the report states.
“Dismissals followed in many cases, with pensions reduced or lost and re-employment thereafter difficult or impossible to secure for many.
“This compounded a sense of arbitrariness, even injustice.”
Some men said they felt “crushed” by the loss of their work, income and dignity. Some suffered nervous breakdowns or committed suicide in the aftermath of the events.
The review team was chaired by John Scott QC and included former MSP and Yes Scotland chair Dennis Canavan, as well as former assistant chief constable Kate Thomson and Jim Murdoch, professor of public law at the University of Glasgow.
Their report called on the Scottish Government to “introduce legislation to pardon men convicted for matters related to the strike”.
The Scottish Government set up a working group to figure out how the men will be pardoned.
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