Patrick Meehan

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Patrick (Paddy) Connolly Meehan (1928–1994) was a man who was the victim of a controversial miscarriage of justice in the UK.

He came from Glasgow and was a "peter man", a safe blower with convictions for bank robbery. In 1969 Mrs. Rachel Ross was murdered during the robbery of a post office in Ayr by two men. Police suspected two men, Meehan and another who was shot dead while resisting arrest. Meehan was convicted of the murder, but his conviction proved controversial, there was a campaign for his release which included Ludovic Kennedy and Nicholas Fairbairn. One factor which cast doubt on his conviction was that another man, Ian Waddell, made a number of statements to journalists that he had committed the murder. Meehan spent several years in prison, but was eventually released and given a royal pardon.

Waddell was then charged with the murder, at his trial he submitted a defence of incrimination, claiming that the murder was committed by Meehan. This trial raised important questions about the legal meaning of a royal pardon, and Waddell was acquitted. Waddell was himself later murdered.

In view of information which has come to light since then, it is now generally accepted that the murder was committed by Waddell and William "Tank" McGuiness, another man who was also later murdered.