A botched warning call by the IRA caused or contributed to the deaths of 21 people killed in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, an inquest jury has found.
A jury at the city's civil court concluded all the victims were unlawfully killed, following a direction from coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC.
Two massive detonations caused what one witness described as 'pure carnage', ripping apart the packed Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs on the night of November 21, killing 21 and injuring 220 more.
A jury panel, which sat for almost six weeks and deliberated for almost five hours, unanimously determined that an inadequate warning call by the Provisional IRA, which carried out the attacks, cost the stretched police vital minutes.
They also found there were no failings, errors or omissions by West Midlands Police's response to the bomb warning call, and further concluded there was no tip-off to the force, giving advanced warning the blasts were going to happen.
The blasts at the Mulberry Bush (shown) and the Tavern in the Town killed 21 people in 1974
A body is carried from the Mulberry Bush. A jury today found the victims were unlawfully killed
Following the verdicts, Sir Peter Thornton QC said: 'The atrocities of the night of Thursday 21 November 1974 are now etched in the history of Birmingham.
'Those dreadful events will never be forgotten because the people of Birmingham will never forget the 21 lives that were tragically lost.'
He added: 'I wish to express my condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones in these terrible bombings.
'I wish to express my admiration and respect for the dignity in which you have conducted yourselves during the difficult time of the inquests.'
The conclusion to the inquests comes after an ex-IRA member gave evidence in which he named four of those behind the attacks and gave the nicknames of two others, apparently with the blessing of IRA leaders.
The anonymous witness, himself a convicted bomber, said Seamus McLoughlan was the commander of the Birmingham IRA at the time and selected the targets, while Mick Murray and Michael Hayes were part of the bombing team and another man, James Gavin, was involved.
Murray, McLoughlan and Gavin have all since died and the man, named in court only as 'Witness O', claimed that Hayes has protection from prosecution following the peace process.
In 1975, six men - the Birmingham Six - were convicted over the blasts but acquitted 16 years later. The attacks remain Britain's largest unsolved terror crime.
Maxine Hambleton was one of 11 people killed in the Tavern in the Town pub
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/botched-ira-warning-call-led-to-birmingham-pub-bombing-deaths-jury-finds/
News Photo Botched IRA warning call led to Birmingham pub bombing deaths, jury finds
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