Talking legal matters

Recalling 1997, 1987, and 1977

In 1977, the USSR experienced domestic terrorism, as supposed Armenian separatists killed seven people in three bombings in Moscow. And scientists identified the bacterium responsible for Legionnaire’s Disease. 1987 was a year for UK landmarklegaljudgements.Following the killers of teenager Stephen Lawrence being named on the front page of a tabloid newspaper, an inquiry found that his murder had been racially-motivated. Also, three men convicted of killing paperboy Carl Bridgewater were released from jail, their convictions 19 years before found to be unsound. And widow Diane Blood was granted permission to use her dead husband’s sperm to father a child. Meanwhile, Moors murderer Myra Hindley was informed her “whole life tarrif ” sentence meant she would never be released from prison.

In 1997 police cracked down on football hooligans, Operation Full Time targeting West Ham and Millwall supporters. Edwina Currie sparked controversy by stating that “good Christians won’t get AIDS”, and the UK was hit by a freezing January, described as a “cold wave’