THE FUNERAL has taken place of a Tipperary man wrongfully imprisoned in a British prison for 26 years.
Frank Johnson (72), who was convicted of the 1975 murder of newsagent John Sheridan, a crime he always maintained he did not commit, was laid to rest at the City of London Cemetery yesterday.
Some 150 mourners attended Mr Johnson's requiem Mass at St Joseph's Church in Leyton, including his sister, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His long-time friend and supporter Billy Power of the Birmingham Six was also present.
Mourners were told how Mr Johnson was "a nice guy" who was good with children.
A native of Clonmel, Mr Johnson was convicted of the murder of Mr Sheridan, his friend and employer, along with his co-accused David Smart and Jack Tierney.
Mr Sheridan was in the back of his shop in Whitechapel, East London when a man appeared at the counter. As he went to serve him, he was doused with petrol and set alight. Mr Johnson was in the shop at the time.
He would have been released from prison years earlier if he had not turned down the chance of parole because he insisted he was not guilty.
In 1994, Mr Johnson was visited at Swaleside prison in Eastchurch, Kent by then mayor of Clonmel Cllr Seamus Healy. Speaking to The Irish Timesyesterday, Mr Healy said: "I sympathise with his family; the long stretch in prison tolled on his health in the end."
Represented by well-known human rights solicitor Gareth Peirce, who has also acted for the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four, he consistently claimed that he had no part in the murder.
Before Mr Sheridan died he made a statement to police exonerating Frank Johnson, but that statement did not surface for 20 years. The statement, which said that Mr Johnson had come to his rescue and extinguished the flames, was only discovered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission when it was requested to re-examine the case by Ms Peirce.
Following his release from prison in 1991, Mr Power championed Mr Johnson's case lending it a higher profile.
Following a long campaign, the case was referred to the Court of Appeal in London, where the conviction was quashed by Lord Justice Longmore.
Speaking after the verdict, the judge said it was a "most exceptional case", commenting: "It is, of course, regrettable that he has served 26 years in prison as a result of what we had to conclude is an unsafe verdict."
After his release in June 2002, Mr Johnson lived with Mr Power and his wife Nora at their Leytonstone home in East London, before moving on to his own home in Walthamstow.
In 2003, Mr Johnson received an interim compensation payment of £100,000 (€123,000) from the British home office, which was placed in a trust, the trustees of which are Mr Power and Sally Mulready.