Arrest IRA man, insist families of Birmingham pub bombs victims

MARTIN WILLIAMS

the wrongful convictions of the so-called Birmingham Six – described as one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

Among the six was Paddy Hill, 72, the most vocal of the Birmingham Six, who last year, based in Ayrshire, joined forces with the Justice4the21 group of relatives to get to the truth of what happened.

But nobody has ever been brought to justice for one of the worst single losses of life in the Troubles.

Now the Justice4the21 group has supported calls for Mr Hayes to be arrested on conspiracy to cause explosions.

A group spokesman said: “No excuses now. You have a verbal confession from Hayes.

“Families aren’t the least bit interested in this specimen who claims to have a conscience.”

Mr Hayes, who now lives in Dublin, refused to say in an interview with the BBC who planted the bombs in the Mulberry

IRA bomb maker Michael Hayes. Bush and the Tavern in the Town, but said he was speaking out to give “the point of view of a participant”.

He said: “My apologies and my heartfelt sympathy to all of you for a terrible tragic loss that you have been put through.

“In all these years that you have been trying to find closure, I hope at last God will be merciful and bring you closure.

“I apologise for all Irish republicans who had no intention of hurting anybody. I’ve sympathies with you.”

He added: “I was a participant in the IRA’s activities in Birmingham. I was an active volunteer. How clear can I make it.”

Asked if he planted the bombs, he said: “I gave you the only answer I can give you.”

He said that two people planted the bombs, but refused to say who they were. And asked if he was one of them he said: “I’m not telling you.”

He said the bombs, made of gelignite, had not been intended to kill people, adding that there had been a crucial eight-minute delay before police were warned of the bombs’ location. He claimed mistakes were made so that bomb warnings were made too late.

He added: “The explosions? They were horrific. They were terrible. It shocked the IRA.

“It was not the intention of the IRA to kill innocent people. That wasn’t meant. It wouldn’t have been done if that was the case.”

In 1990, Hayes was named in a Granada TV programme as one of the men who placed the bombs in the two pubs. He was arrested and questioned by police about the bombings, but was released.

But Julie Hambleton of the Justice4the21 campaign – whose older sister Maxine died aged 18 in the blast – dismissed the apology. She said: “You’ve murdered 21 people and all you’ve got is sorry? What about, ‘I did it’. I’m handing myself in.That might help.”

West Midlands Police said it would respond to “any new significant information to bring those responsible to justice”.

Andy Woodward has spoken out publicly.