Families of the 21 Birmingham pub bombings victims continue justice fight as hearings reopen 44 years later

RELATIVES of the 1974 Birmingham bombings victims pleaded for the truth as the inquests resumed.

Twenty-one died in two pub blasts blamed on the IRA, and the hearings reopened yesterday after 44 years and a long battle by relatives.

But there was outrage that those believed to be responsible will not be named in the inquests.

Bombs ripped through the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town on November 21 but the killers were never brought to justice.

Paul Bridgewater, whose dad Paul Davis, 18, was among the dead, said before the hearings in the city: “The coroner has ruled out a lot of things but we want the truth really.”

Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine, 18, was killed, cried and said: “I’m more angry now than I ever have been because my sister is not here to be with us.”

Six men — known as the Birmingham Six — were wrongfully convicted and spent 17 years in jail before the convictions were quashed.

The terror attacks, which also injured 220, were Britain’s deadliest until the 7/7 London Tube and bus bombings in 2005.

Coroner Sir Peter Thornton told the jury they would hear evidence security forces had forewarning.

But he said the question of who planted the bombs was for police, prosecutors and the courts.

The inquests, originally opened and adjourned days after the blasts but not resumed, could last six weeks.