Shankland outside the law." On appeal, their convictions were reduced to manslaughter, and their life sentences were replaced with eight-year prison terms, of which they would serve just over half. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, explained that the crime would be murder if the death was a "natural consequence" of the miners' actions, but the legal phrase "natural consequence" was potentially misleading without further explanation. The appeal verdict of guilty to manslaughter was upheld in the House of Lords, in the case R v Hancock. Hancock and Shankland were released on 30 November 1989, which was coincidentally the fifth anniversary of Wilkie's death. Aftermath Kim Howells, the South Wales NUM official who commented on the killing of David Wilkie, later became a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party and served as a minister in the Blair government and later became chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, a committee of parliamentarians that oversees the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies. In 2004 he said that when he heard that a taxi driver had been killed, he thought "hang on, we've got all those records we've kept over in the NUM offices, there's all those maps on the wall, we're gonna get implicated in this". He then destroyed "everything", because he feared a police raid on the union offices. The killing is referenced in the Roger Waters songs, "Who Needs Information" and "Me or Him", on his 1987 Radio K.A.O.S. album. References 1984 crimes in the United Kingdom 1984 in Wales British manslaughter victims Coal in Wales Crime in Wales Deaths by person in Wales Miners' labor disputes Protest-related deaths Union violence UK miners' strike (1984–1985) Deaths by rocks thrown at cars November 1984 events in the United Kingdom British criminal case law 1984 in case law