This article includes information revealed in the third season of Inside the Crime.

After serving nearly three years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Martin Conmey was finally released in 1975.

Prison had been hard and at first, he was delighted to taste freedom and start his life again.

When the relief subsided, however, it was replaced by other emotions – paranoia, self-loathing and anger at what he had been forced to endure.

“I was free, but as the saying goes, I wasn’t free in my mind,” he told Frank Greaney on Inside the Crime.

“It was playing on my mind, day in, day out - just how could I live with this? And I couldn’t.

“It was hell. Every day was hell and I remember coming down the road at night and coming in home and it was hard to live with.

“Especially if I had a few drinks, just the paranoia – and it was serious, crying all the time and thinking, ‘Jesus wouldn’t death be a lovely escape from all this.’”

Martin Conmey

Martin said most people were very supportive, but others refused to believe he had been wrongly convicted – insisting there is ‘no smoke without fire’ and questioning why anyone would make admissions if they were not guilty.

“It was difficult getting through every day, I tell you that,” said Martin. “It was serious and there were times I just contemplated ending it all.

“I remember going out to work, getting up in the morning and I would be in work crying and lads would be looking at me.

“I was driving a JCB at the time and they would see this fella inside crying in the machine.

“I felt there was nothing that could be done, I would just have to live with this for the rest of my life.

“Every bloody day – weeks and months and years went by and it was the same thing.”

Gerry Conlon, the first of the Guildford Four to be freed, with his sisters Bridie Brennan and Ann McKernan outside the Old Bailey in London. Image: PA Images / Alamyc

It was 14 years later, after Martin fell in love with his now wife Anne and welcomed his son Ray to the world, that something happened that would change the course of his life forever.

On October 19th, 1989, the Guildford Four saw their convictions for the Guildford Pub Bombings quashed by the UK Court of Appeal.

They had spent 15 years in a UK prison for a crime they had nothing to do with – after making false confessions under brutal interrogation at the hands of the UK police.

Gerry Conlon’s famous speech outside London’s Old Bailey moments his conviction was quashed was broadcast across the world – and back on Porterstown Lane, Martin was watching it beside his newborn son.

“‘I’m an innocent man' - I remember him saying that,’” said Martin.

“‘I’m an innocent man; I’ve spent 15 years in prison and my father died in prison for something he didn’t do.'

“I just started crying. I just looked at Ray … I just looked at him and I started crying.

“That’s what got me going and I didn’t stop from then on – I just kept going.”

Toughest battle

Asked if Gerry Conlon inspired him to clear his own name he said: “Yeah, I could see myself standing behind him.”

“I could see me and him you know and I said, ‘Jesus I’m doing something, I can’t live any longer with this – I’m doing it for Ray.’”

So it was in that moment, as shots of a triumphant Gerry Conlon were beamed into his living room, Martin vowed to once again take on the might of the State.

Little did he know it would prove to be his toughest battle to date.

Inside the Crime

Season 3 of Inside The Crime is a story of divided loyalties, misplaced vengeance and an act of cruel injustice.

At the heart of it all, however, is the unsolved murder of a 19-year-old girl.

This is the story of the Una Lynskey Murder.

Throughout the season, you can go Deeper Inside the Crime with interactive maps, family trees and in-depth articles examining the key points from the story.

Listen and subscribe to Inside the Crime on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify now.

Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.