Patrick Meehan

Biography

Patrick Connolly Meehan (12 April 1927 – 14 August 1994) was the victim of a controversial miscarriage of justice in Scotland. Although he died a natural death (of throat cancer in Swansea) a number of people involved in the case died violent deaths, in clashes between former associates among Glasgow criminals. Meehan came from Glasgow and was a "peter man", a safe-blower with convictions for bank robbery. In 1969, Rachael Ross was murdered during a robbery at her bungalow in Ayr by two men. Her husband (Abraham Ross) survived the robbery, and he reported that the robbers had addressed each other as "Pat" and "Jim". Police suspected two known criminals, Meehan and James Griffiths, who had been in the area. Griffiths panicked when the police tried to arrest him, and he went on a gun-toting rampage across Glasgow. He was shot dead by police, but only after he shot and injured several passers-by, one of whom later died. Meehan was arrested more peacefully and charged with the murder of Mrs. Ross. His solicitor was Joseph Beltrami, and his advocates were Nicholas Fairbairn and John Smith, who both later became high-ranking politicians. At his trial, he submitted a defence of incrimination, claiming that the murder was committed by another man, Ian Waddell, but was found guilty. His conviction proved controversial and there was a campaign for his release which included Fairbairn and Ludovic Kennedy. After the trial, Waddell made a number of statements to journalists that he had committed the murder. Meehan spent several years in prison, but was eventually released and given a royal pardon in mid-1976. Later that year, Waddell was put on trial for the murder of Rachael Ross. At his trial he submitted a defence of incrimination, claiming that the murder was committed by Meehan. This trial, and particularly the judge's summing-up, in which he advised the jury that, despite the royal pardon intending that the conviction and all its consequences are wiped out and that persons

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