IRA Birmingham pub bombing suspects named in TV documentary
Programme identifies two men as being responsible for the 1974 attack that killed 21 and injured 220
AN ITV documentary will claim tonight to have identified two suspects in the IRA Birmingham pub bombings.
The suspects will be named as a former labourer who was a teenager at the time of the atrocity and an ex-british soldier-turned-ira terrorist. James Francis Gavin, the ex-soldier, who is now dead, has been identified before in connection with the Birmingham bombings. The second, who now lives in Belfast and is in his 60s, has never previously been named in public.
The new suspect strenuously denied any involvement when the allegations were put to him by ITV Exposure, which is being broadcast tonight. The bomb attacks on two pubs in Birmingham on Nov 21, left 21 people dead and 220 injured. The so-called Birmingham Six were found guilty of the murders a year later but the convictions were overturned in one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice.
The documentary claims that the Crown Prosecution Service has previously examined the case against the suspect and concluded there is insufficient evidence to charge him.
The show – The Hunt for the Birmingham Bombers – will allege that the men, part of an IRA cell, are suspected of planting the bombs in the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs.
The younger alleged bomber was convicted of terrorism offences in 1976 and jailed for 10 years for a bombing campaign in the West Midlands in 1974, separate from the Birmingham attacks.
When confronted by John Ware, the veteran filmmaker, the suspect said: “You can ask what you want, but I’m not going to answer …”
ITV Exposure says the suspect’s “charge sheet” is similar to a description of the suspect spoken to by Chris Mullin, a journalist and former Labour minister, who had campaigned for the release of the Birmingham Six.
Mr Mullin declined to say if the suspect identified by Exposure is the same man to whom he spoke.
Court documents obtained by ITV show that during the police investigation into the “young planter” for the other offences, he was questioned about his links to the pub attacks.
In an interview, the suspect said: “I was told there was something going to happen but I didn’t know there was going to be people killed.”
ITV’S decision to identify the suspects will further anger victims’ families, distraught that fresh inquests will not name suspects. The Court of Appeal ruled that a coroner was right to exclude investigations into responsibility.
The suspect’s lawyer told ITV: “Our client denies all the allegations … and does not intend to respond any further to the unfounded allegations you have made.”