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Birmingham pub bombings: coroner orders new inquests Birmingham pub bombings: coroner orders new inquests
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An inquest into the Birmingham pub bombings, one of the worst terrorist attacks in British history, is to be reopened 42 years after the twin blasts claimed the lives of 21 people. An inquest into the Birmingham pub bombings, one of the worst terrorist attacks in British history, is to be reopened 42 years after they claimed the lives of 21 people.
Louise Hunt, the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said on Wednesday an inquest was needed because she had serious concerns that the police had failed to act on two warnings that the attacks were about to take place. Louise Hunt, the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said an inquest was needed because she had serious concerns that police may have failed to act on advance warnings about the attack.
The decision comes three weeks after Hunt said she had received a “significant” piece of information about the advance notice that had been given before the explosions. She said: “This was a terrible atrocity resulting in multiple deaths.” The decision comes three weeks after Hunt said she had received what she described as a “significant” piece of information about the notice that had been given before the IRA bombs exploded.
Setting out the reasons for her ruling, Hunt said there was evidence that West Midlands police had missed two potential warnings of the bomb attacks, including a comment made by men linked to the IRA that “Birmingham would be hit next week”. Relatives for some of those who died have been pushing for the inquest to be reopened, following the realisation that the police had failed to identify the perpetrators and that the courts had convicted innocent men, and because they say the investigative process lacked transparency.
That overheard conversation was reported to police on 10 November 1974, but Hunt said there was “no indication that the police took any active steps in response to it”. Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the blasts aged 18, said: “All we want is truth, justice and accountability.”
On the day of the attack, a second tip-off to the police was not followed up, she added. The co-ordinated attacks on two central Birmingham pubs, the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town, on the evening of 21 November 1974, also injured about 182 people. Many of them suffered the loss of limbs.
Hunt went on: “I have serious concerns that advanced notice of the bombs may have been available to the police and that they failed to take the necessary steps to protect life. It was a Thursday – at that time, the day when most workers were paid – and the city’s pubs were packed.
“This is specifically in respect of the two matters I have identified. A third bomb left in the doorway of a bank on the outskirts of the city centre failed to explode.
“It is only in respect of that issue that I consider there is sufficient reason to resume an inquest to investigate the circumstances of these deaths. So I am satisfied that the inquest should be resumed.” The following year, six men – now known as the Birmingham Six – were convicted of the attacks and sentenced to life imprisonment.
She said claims police were protecting a mole in the IRA cell were unfounded, and neither did the emergency services response that night contribute to the deaths. In 1991, however, the convictions of Hugh Callaghan, Paddy Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker were quashed, in an acknowledgment of what is now seen as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history.
The coroner’s decision was welcomed by many of the relatives of the people who died – and the 182 people who were injured. They had been pushing for a new investigation following the realisation that the men convicted of the bombings had been entirely innocent. Hunt rejected suggestions that the police investigation had been designed to protect an informant among the group that had planted the bombs, and also said there was no evidence that there had been a significant delay in the police and ambulance service response.
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was among the 21 victims of the Birmingham pub bombings, said the decision to hold new inquests went “way beyond our expectations” as she urged the Government to ensure victims’ families were given legal aid funding. “All we want is to be heard so we can get the truth, justice and accountability.” She did, however, say that the police may have missed two opportunities to take steps to prevent the bombings.
Speaking outside the hearing, Paddy Hill, one of the six men wrongly convicted of the bombings, welcomed the decision to order new inquests. He said: “I’ve known the truth all along. It’s about time the British public knew the truth.” Eleven days before the attacks, West Midlands police had received a warning that Birmingham was being targeted by the IRA. “There is no indication the police took any active steps in response to it,” she said. “Instead the report was filed away.”
But he said he was “sceptical” the truth would actually emerge. “Birmingham police couldn’t spell the word truth. They’re rotten,” he told reporters. On the days of the attacks, a man whom Hunt described as “Witness B” said he heard a group of Irish men in the Stirchley area of the city discussing a bomb attack. He says he went to a police training centre, where “it took some time before a police officer was available”. When he returned to the pub with two officers, the men had departed.
The bombings, which ripped through the underground Tavern in the Town and the nearby Mulberry Bush pub, are widely accepted to have been the work of the Provisional IRA. The terrorist group’s former intelligence director, Kieran Conway, recently describing the attacks as “an absolute disaster”. “I have serious concerns that advanced notice of the bombs may have been available to the police and that they failed to take the necessary steps to protect life,” said Hunt.
A third bomb – found in a bag in Hagley Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham – only partially detonated and its remains were later lost by West Midlands police. Although the IRA has never formally acknowledged responsibility for the attacks, a number of republican figures have admitted that the organisation was to blame.
A botched investigation by the force led to the Birmingham Six being wrongly jailed for the crime. However, the men were freed in 1991 after their convictions were ruled unsafe by the court of appeal. The attacks provoked anti-Irish sentiment among some in Birmingham and elsewhere across Britain, and the government rushed through counter-terrorism legislation giving the police new powers to detain suspects for seven days without charge.
West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson pledged to support the new inquests, saying the initial investigation was “the most serious failing in this force’s history”. The first coroner’s investigation was adjourned six days after the bombings and closed without reporting. The process was then overtaken by a criminal investigation.
He said: “The Birmingham pub bombings of 1974 are one of the most serious terrorist attacks in the UK. West Midlands Police not only failed to catch those responsible but caused a miscarriage of justice. Republican figures have subsequently said that the warnings were delayed: the bombers had planted the devices and then found the telephone boxes in the area had been vandalised.
“I have said and reiterate again, it is the most serious failing in this force’s history. It is almost 42 years since these events. I understand families of those who lost their lives are frustrated, disappointed and angry. At a previous hearing, Ashley Underwood QC, for the families of several victims, said the bombings were “crying out for a proper, fearless investigation”.
“Since 2012, and directly as a result of the campaign by families of those who died, we have carefully reassessed the opportunities to bring the people responsible to justice. Despite an intense scrutiny we have not been able to see, at this time, a prospect of doing this. That has been an authentic and painstaking search for the truth.” Hunt has questioned whether some of the evidence gathered by police in the aftermath of the bombings has since been lost. As many as 35 of the 168 exhibits used at the trial of the Birmingham Six – including the unexploded bomb – are thought to have disappeared.
Thompson added: “We have not nor will not close this investigation. “West Midlands Police will support this inquiry as we have done through the recent hearings by the coroner which determined whether the inquest should re-open. I hope the new inquest provides answers to families.” West Midlands police have said they do not object to the reopening of the inquest, and are eager to pursue any lines of investigation that could lead to the prosecution of those responsible, but have also said at an earlier hearing that there was no evidence to show that reopening the inquest was appropriate.
The Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers, has questioned whether the passage of time would make it difficult for the coroner to establish what happened 42 years ago.
Hambleton said she and other relatives hoped police and the emergency services did not appeal against the coroner’s decision. “That would be very, very cynical,” she said.
She also praised the Belfast law firm, KRW Law, which worked pro bono while making the application to reopen the inquest, and said the families now needed legal aid.
The IRA’s head of intelligence at the time of the Birmingham pub bombings has welcomed the news that fresh inquests will be held into the atrocity and said he was willing to give evidence to a coroner.
But Kieran Conway, an IRA activist turned Dublin lawyer specialising in criminal cases, said he would only travel to England if he had assurances from the British authorities that he would not be arrested for past IRA membership.
Conway said otherwise he would be prepared to give evidence via video link from the Irish Republic.
He also backed the victims’ families’ demand for an independent judicial inquiry following the inquests. “I absolutely welcome the coroner’s decision to hold a fresh inquest into the bombings,” Conway said.
Paddy Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, who was in court to hear the coroner’s decision, said he doubted West Midlands police would show much candour during the inquest. “Birmingham police couldn’t even spell the word truth, let alone tell it,” he said.
Dave Thompson, chief constable of West Midlands police, pledged to support the new inquests, saying the initial investigation was “the most serious failing in this force’s history”.
He said: “The Birmingham pub bombings of 1974 are one of the most serious terrorist attacks in the UK. West Midlands police not only failed to catch those responsible but caused a miscarriage of justice.
“I have said and reiterate again, it is the most serious failing in this force’s history.
“It is almost 42 years since these events. I understand families of those who lost their lives are frustrated, disappointed and angry.
“Since 2012, and directly as a result of the campaign by families of those who died, we have carefully reassessed the opportunities to bring the people responsible to justice. Despite an intense scrutiny we have not been able to see, at this time, a prospect of doing this. That has been an authentic and painstaking search for the truth.
“We have not nor will not close this investigation. West Midlands police will support this inquiry as we have done through the recent hearings by the coroner, which determined whether the inquest should reopen. I hope the new inquest provides answers to families.”