On 21st November 1974 bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs killing 21 people and injuring over 200 others. To this day, the Birmingham Pub Bombings remain the bloodiest unsolved case of mass murder on English soil.  

We are in urgent need of funds to proceed with a claim for judicial review in our fight for justice and transparency around what actually happened that awful day in 1974.

Justice4the21 is a campaign group of 10 families who have fought for truth, justice and accountability on behalf of their loved ones who were killed in the Birmingham Pub Bombings in 1974.

Our lives were changed forever when our families lost beloved sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. The 21 victims were:

Charles, Anne, John (aka, Cliff), Neil, Desmond & Eugene (2 brothers), James, Thomas, James, Maxine, Jane, Paul, John, Lynn, Marilyn, Maureen, Michael, Pamela, Stanley, Stephen, Trevor (pictures are attached). They went out to socialise with family and friends, never to see the light of day again or return home to their families.

The ‘Birmingham Six’ were sentenced to life imprisonment for the atrocity but were released 16 years later when the Court of Appeal quashed their convictions.

Since then, it has been a long hard road to travel. After years of campaigning and help from our lawyers, on 1^st June 2016 we were successful in securing the resumption of the inquest in to the deaths of our loved ones which had opened in 1974. However, on 3^rd July 2017, His Honour Sir Peter Thornton QC, Coroner to the inquest ruled that the issue of who was responsible for the bombings that lead to the deaths of our loved ones should be excluded from the inquest. We vehemently disagree with his decision and need to challenge it. 

42 years on from that terrible night, Justice4the21 are still fighting to get truth, justice and accountability for our loved ones, murdered in cold blood. This can only be achieved if the issue of who was responsible for the bombings is included in the inquest.

Julie Hambleton who is the spokesperson for Justice4the21 and whose sister Maxine was killed, has said “if it were not for the murderers, our loved ones would not be dead. If it were not for the murderers, we (the families of those killed) would not need to have to fight for what is our right in a democratic society: truth, justice & accountability. The murderers are pivotal to the inquest, otherwise we may as well not bother having an inquest at all.”

The shortcomings of the inquest were exposed by the recent BBC interview with Mick Hayes, an IRA bomb maker and part of an IRA cell in Birmingham in 1974. Mick Hayes said “I take collective responsibility for what happened”, but refused to provide any other information. Based on this interview alone, how can the Coroner’s decision still be considered moral, ethical or legally acceptable?

In making his decision, the Coroner relied upon the corrupted investigation of the West Midlands Police, which lead to the conviction of the Birmingham Six, and the subsequent Devon and Cornwall Police investigation, the content and conclusions of those investigations have never been disclosed.

Our journey is not yet over.

On 27^th July 2017 we decided not to participate in the inquest as we do not believe justice can be served through an inquest that does not consider the core issues relating to the bomb makers, bomb planters and their associates and their actions.

The only way we can challenge the Coroner’s ruling on the scope of the inquest is by going to Court.

Now, we urgently need to raise funds to apply to seek permission from the High Court to proceed with a claim for judicial review of the Coroner’s ruling on the extent of the inquest and whether his decision was human rights Article 2 (right to life) compliant and lawful.

An application for Legal Aid may not be granted, but experience shows, the process would be unlikely to be completed within judicial review timescales.

Justice4the21 is urgently seeking justice for those murdered and maimed on 21^st November 1974, but also for all those affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. There are too many questions left unasked and unanswered, too many suspicions and too many rumours.

It’s possible that government agents were involved in this terrorist atrocity and if so, that needs to be exposed. The government currently deny holding any documents on England’s biggest unsolved mass murder.  The victims and their families deserve truth, justice and accountability.

Justice4the21 is a self-financed group brought together through the tragedy of a violent loss. Our campaign work has been recognised by awards and we have worked closely with politicians in London and Brussels, local clergy, local and national media and other similar campaign organisations.

Please donate and help us seek justice. This is our last chance for a human rights investigation into the deaths of our loved ones in our quest for truth, justice and accountability.