I will never forget the story of Charles English; he was only a few years older than me when he died. He was killed on the 6 August 1985 - when a homemade grenade launcher he was holding exploded. He was only 21 years old at the time. The real story of English was not in his death, but in the reason why he volunteered to join the IRA in the first place. The reason came in the shape of a British Army landrover that ploughed into two young men on Creggan Hill. One of the young men was Jim Brown, aged 18; he was knocked some 60 feet in the air and died instantly. The other young man was Gary English who had apparently survived the impact of the Army landrover, only to be killed when the landrover reversed and ran him over again. Gary was the brother of Charles. Years later, the driver of the landrover was later charged with a traffic offence. The English family campaigned for justice but received none. Charles took matters into his own hands. The rest is history. (1) If the Prime Minister Tony Blair has his way, this post would be enough to warrant my arrest and imprisonment. Blair is proposing to outlaw the glorification of 'terrorism', in a desperate bid to combat the new form of extreme Islamic nihilistic terror. (2) But this is Britain, and I am an Englishman - it means, I was born free. Free to say what ever I like – without fear. How I feel about Charles English is nothing more than my opinion, and if I’m not free to say what I believe, then I’m not free. Read on: (1) The case of Charles English. Director of Public Prosecution http://www.serve.com/pfc/policing/dpp/dppintro.html (2) Blair vows hard line on fanatics. BBC News. 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4747573.stm