Birmingham Six were granted a further appeal (their third) in 1991, when more evidence established that the police evidence at their trial had been fabricated. The Director of Public Prosecutions announced before the appeal was held that he no longer considered their convictions safe and satisfactory. Lane did not preside over the appeal which formally cleared them. Their successful appeal led to calls for Lane to resign, including a hostile editorial in The Times and a motion in the House of Commons signed by 140 members of parliament. These, and other cases where convictions were overturned, blighted the end of Lane's tenure as Lord Chief Justice. Retirement Despite previous thoughts that he would resign before the end of his time to enjoy an active retirement, Lane stayed in office until 1992. Despite remaining in office after the Birmingham Six were released, he nevertheless resigned over a year before he would have been forced to retire at the age of 75. He headed a commission in 1993 which recommended the end of the mandatory life sentence for murder, but otherwise kept a low profile (he never gave press interviews while in office and did not change that policy in his retirement). He died in 2005 and was buried in the churchyard at St Ippolyts, near Hitchin in Hertfordshire. References External links Obituary (BBC News, 24 August 2005) Obituary (The Guardian, 23 August 2005) Obituary (The Telegraph, 24 August 2005) Obituary (The Times, 24 August 2005) Obituary (The Independent, 25 August 2005) 1918 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English judges Knights Bachelor Law lords Lord chief justices of England and Wales Queen's Bench Division judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of Gray's Inn Royal Air Force officers British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) People from Derby Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Shrewsbury School Lords Justices of Appeal