The Court of Appeal for England and Wales overturned the convictions of a group of trade unionists called the Shrewsbury 24 on Tuesday after almost 50 years.

The Shrewsbury 24 were a group of trade unionists that included actor Ricky Tomlinson who were involved in the first national building workers’ strike in September 1972 against low pay, lack of employment rights, and unsafe working conditions. Many of the group were charged with conspiracy to intimidate, unlawful assembly and affray. They were further convicted and blacklisted after finishing their sentences.

The Court of Appeal overturned the convictions on the ground that witness statements made by civilian eyewitnesses, “in which the allegations essentially turned on the accuracy and credibility of their testimony,” were destroyed early on in the original proceedings. The court held that destruction of witness statements rendered the convictions “unsafe” and, “[by] the standards of today, what occurred was unfair to the extent that the verdicts cannot be upheld.”

Tomlinson told BBC the appeal was a “victory for the establishment,” rather than for the picketers, claiming that “they knew from the start that the police had destroyed hundreds and hundreds of statements and made new ones to our disadvantage[.]” In a piece penned for The Guardian on Tuesday, Tomlinson called the original trial a “political trial” and asserted:

The issue needs to be investigated further and there has to be an independent public inquiry not just into how the secret state had a hand in our convictions, but how blacklisting has blighted not just the construction industry but no doubt other areas too. It is a massive attack on our right to work and our human rights.