Birmingham pub bombings hearing adjourned

The Chief constable of West Midlands police has been ordered to produce information, in response to a claim that the force may have been tipped off in advance of the Birmingham pub bombings, by an IRA mole.

A coroner made the order after hearing legal submissions about whether there was enough evidence to reopen inquests into the 21 people who died.

Chris Halpin reports.

The Senior Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull has called for the adjournment of the hearing into the possible resumption of the original Birmingham pub bombings inquest.

West Midlands Police have been asked to disclose further information to the coroner in private.

Our reporter Chris Halpin has the latest:

A barrister representing West Midlands Police has told a hearing that the force has "no principled objection" to the original inquest into the Birmingham pub bombings reopening.

A decision will be made by the Senior Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull later this month.

A lawyer representing the families of the Birmingham pub bombings has told a hearing into the potential reopening of the original inquest that new evidence has yet to be heard.

No one has been successfully convicted over the bombings in November 1974, which killed 21 people and injured almost 200 more.

The original inquest was closed in 1975 without hearing evidence and never reopened after the wrongful convictions of the 'Birmingham Six' were quashed in 1991.

Ashley Underwood QC has told the hearing what the victims' families think the scope of the inquest should be:

• 1. Was there time for police to evacuate pubs on 21 November 1974?
• 2. If there was time between a bomb warning and the explosions, why didn't an evacuation happen?
• 3. After the explosions, were all reasonable attempt made for ambulances to attend to the needy?
• 4. Was there a falsification by police of records, and if so why?

The hearing in Solihull lasts three days, and a decision on whether to reopen the inquest will be made by the Senior Coroner later this month.

Follow our reporter Chris Halpin for the latest.

A three-day hearing into the potential re-opening of the original Birmingham pub bombings inquest has got underway in Solihull.

The original inquest, which closed in 1975, was never reopened after the wrongful convictions of the 'Birmingham Six' were quashed in 1991.

Twenty one people were killed in the atrocities in November 1974.

Our reporter Chris Halpin has the latest:

The families of the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings have arrived at a hearing where the case for re-opening the original inquest will be heard.

Twenty-one people were killed and 182 injured when the suspected IRA bombs exploded in two city centre pubs on November 21 1974.

Six men wrongly convicted of the murders - the Birmingham Six - were released in 1991 after their convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal.

An inquest, which opened days after the bombings, was closed without hearing evidence in 1975 in response to the guilty verdicts.

The Birmingham and Solihull Coroner will hear arguments from lawyers representing the families and also West Midlands Police over the next three days.

Read: Son of Birmingham pub bomb victim: I want justice