The petty criminal Gerry Conlon is mistaken for a bombmaker of the IRA in Belfast and has to flee the british army, getting the actual IRA bombmakers into trouble. Now they are mad at Gerry and can only be calmed down by Gerrys father Guiseppe. His father now advises Gerry to leave to London until the heat is over. There, Gerry soon joins local hippie communes, but soon gets into trouble again. He is falsely accused by the police to have blown up two pubs and is arrested together with another friend on the basis of a new anti-terrorism-law. The police keeps them in custody for 7 days, torturing them so long until they sign a confession for the crime. Gerrys is imprisoned for a life-term sentence, his family as well or at least for a long time. Gerry has to share a cell with his father and fights for their innocence being acknowleged, but it is only until lawyer Garreth Peirce does research and is mistakingly given the papers of Gerry, not Guiseppe, that they have a chance. In Gerrys file she stumbles upon secret documents that prove their innocence. Gerry and his family are able to come free, yet Guiseppes innocence is still not acknowlegded, so Gerry vows to keep fighting.