Election candidates demand justice for those killed in Birmingham pub bombings

British police have never re-opened case after Birmingham Six walked free

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Six men - Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Johnny Walker, Hugh Callaghan, Richard McIlkenny and Billy Power - were jailed in 1975 for the Birmingham pub bombings. The case was never re-opened after the Birmingham Six walked free in 1991 after London’s Court of Appeal accepted their innocence.

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Election candidates for a police commissioner’s role in Britain have demanded a new inquiry into the Birmingham pub bombings which killed 21 people in 1974.

They are also demanding that the British authorities take action after failing to find those responsible for the atrocity.

Six men - Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Johnny Walker, Hugh Callaghan, Richard McIlkenny and Billy Power - were jailed in the wrong in 1975 for the bombings.

The case was never re-opened after the Birmingham Six walked free in 1991 after London’s Court of Appeal accepted their innocence.

The court ruled that their convictions were unsafe because they were based on unreliable forensic evidence and confessions that were made after they had been beaten by police.

The Irish Times reports that all candidates in next week’s election for a new police commissioner in the West Midlands region have demanded a new investigation into the IRA Birmingham pub bombings.

Former West Midlands Police detective Mike Rumble said: “It is a disgrace that the investigation into the 1974 atrocity has not been reopened."
 

Conservative candidate Matt Bennett said: “It is bad enough to lose a loved one in such tragic circumstances, but to be denied justice in that way is appalling.”

A former head of the West Midlands Police Authority, candidate Derek Webley said: “It is vitally important that a fresh eye looks into this.”

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