Ian Burnett, Baron Burnett of Maldon

The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice. The Guildford Four were wrongly convicted of bombings carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA); the Maguire Seven were wrongly convicted of handling explosives found during the investigation into the bombings. Both groups' convictions were eventually declared "unsafe and unsatisfactory" and reversed in 1989 and 1991 respectively after they had served up to 15–16 years in prison. Along with the Maguires and the Guildford Four, a number of other people faced charges relating to the bombings, six of them charged with murder, but these charges were dropped. No one else was charged with the bombings, or supplying the material; three police officers were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, but found not guilty.

The Ladbroke Grove rail crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when two passenger trains collided almost head-on after one of them had passed a signal at danger. With 31 people killed and 417 injured, it was one of the worst rail accidents in 20th-century British history.

A recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions.

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. With the exception of Prince Edward, who was made Duke of Edinburgh for life in 2023, all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle their holders to sit and vote in the House of Lords with the rank of baron, presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable", although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Prior to 2009 life peers of baronial rank could also be so created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges.