Birmingham Pub Bombings: Inquests to begin in February 2019
Full inquests into the deaths of 21 people in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974 will begin next year.
Nine weeks of inquests will start on February 11 2019, and will include pen portraits of each of the victims.
At a pre-inquest hearing today Judge Sir Peter Thornton QC, who will hear the inquests, was also told that lawyers for some of the bereaved families are seeking unbroadcast footage of the ITV Exposure documentary which named two of the alleged bombers.
Following a legal battle, the question of identifying precisely who the bombers were will not form part of proceedings.
Two blasts ripped apart the Tavern in the Town and Mulberry Bush pubs in Birmingham city centre on the night of November 21.
It was the deadliest terrorist attack on the UK mainland until the London July 7/7 bombings claimed 21 lives and injured more than 220 other people.
A botched investigation by West Midlands Police led to the convictions of the Birmingham Six, who were found guilty of the murders a year later.
But their convictions were overturned in one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice.
Nobody has ever been brought to justice for the attacks, although it was claimed in the recent ITV documentary by journalist Jon Ware that at least one of those responsible was now dead.