During the troubles, in the wake of pub bombings, British police sometimes arrested and/or convicted people with flimsy evidence, eventually having to pardon th

During the troubles, in the wake of pub bombings, British police sometimes arrested and/or convicted people with flimsy evidence, eventually having to pardon them many years later when the convictions were quashed. For example, google The Guidford Four, or The Birmingham Six. I think the parent is suggesting that in both cases, the politicians were demanding an arrest of someone, preferably the people who did it, but failing that, anyone who might have done it.