Coroner orders fresh inquest into 1974 Birmingham bombings that left 21 dead and 182 injured
Twin attacks were widely blamed on the IRA, although it never formally claimed responsibility.
A coroner on Wednesday ordered a re-examination of the deaths of 21 people in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, one of Britain’s worst ever terror attacks, after claims that police failed to act on two warnings.
Coroner Louise Hunt ordered new inquests for the victims killed in the twin attacks, which were widely blamed on the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, although it never formally claimed responsibility.
All we want is to be heard so we can get the truth, justice and accountability
She said there was evidence that police missed two warnings about the November 21, 1974 attack, which left 182 people injured – one 11 days before, and another on the day of the bombings itself.
The attack on two pubs in Britain’s second biggest city came at the height of the IRA’s bloody campaign to end British rule in the province of Northern Ireland.
“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,” Hunt said.
She cited the two potential warnings, saying that “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”.