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| Birmingham pub bombings victims' families lobby for inquest | Birmingham pub bombings victims' families lobby for inquest |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Families of the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings have met the home secretary to call for an inquest into the deaths. | Families of the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings have met the home secretary to call for an inquest into the deaths. |
| Twenty one people were killed and 182 injured when bombs exploded at two pubs in the city centre on 21 November 1974. | Twenty one people were killed and 182 injured when bombs exploded at two pubs in the city centre on 21 November 1974. |
| Six men were jailed in 1975 but their convictions were quashed in 1991. | Six men were jailed in 1975 but their convictions were quashed in 1991. |
| An inquest was opened days after the bombings but closed without hearing evidence in 1975 after the guilty verdicts. | An inquest was opened days after the bombings but closed without hearing evidence in 1975 after the guilty verdicts. |
| Julie Hambleton, part of the Justice 4 the 21 campaign group, said the meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers had gone well. | Julie Hambleton, part of the Justice 4 the 21 campaign group, said the meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers had gone well. |
| "The home secretary was most sympathetic and came across very positive," she said. | "The home secretary was most sympathetic and came across very positive," she said. |
| "We are asking her for three things: firstly to support our quest for truth and justice, secondly to support our application for a new inquest and lastly for our legal team to gain access to files put under a 75-year embargo." | "We are asking her for three things: firstly to support our quest for truth and justice, secondly to support our application for a new inquest and lastly for our legal team to gain access to files put under a 75-year embargo." |
| Despite describing the meeting as "highly significant", Ms Hambleton said it was "what happens next" that was important. | |
| She said no firm commitments had been made by the home secretary, but that the government was looking into the embargo. | She said no firm commitments had been made by the home secretary, but that the government was looking into the embargo. |
| Ms Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was killed, said: "What completely stumps us is the fact when the men were released... nobody stood up and said 'Right, we've got to go back through the motions, we need to have a coroner's inquest, we need to have another investigation, we need to go above and beyond and go and look for the murderers'." | Ms Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was killed, said: "What completely stumps us is the fact when the men were released... nobody stood up and said 'Right, we've got to go back through the motions, we need to have a coroner's inquest, we need to have another investigation, we need to go above and beyond and go and look for the murderers'." |
| An application for a fresh inquest has been lodged with the attorney general. | |
| Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming has also called for an inquiry into what happened at the time. | |
| Lawyer Christopher Stanley, who accompanied the families to the meeting, said: "We reiterated that prosecution is one aspect of an investigation and that an inquest would examine all the circumstances surrounding the Birmingham pub bombings, including the failures in previous investigations and prosecutions," he said. | |
| After the convictions were quashed, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Barbara Mills, placed a 75-year embargo on files relating to a Devon and Cornwall Police inquiry into the West Midlands Police investigation. | |
| It means those files are not due to be released until 2069. | It means those files are not due to be released until 2069. |
| Birmingham pub bombings | Birmingham pub bombings |