It was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles, with 21 people being killed after explosives detonated inside two busy pubs. Now, a coroner has been told that an IRA informant may have tipped off police before the Birmingham bombings took place. The claim was made by a representative of the victims’ families, who want the inquest to be reopened more than 40 years after it was adjourned.
Page Description
Explore the gripping story of the Birmingham Six,
wrongfully convicted in 1974.
Discover the injustice, the legal battle, and its lasting impact on society.
The Birmingham Six – 1974 – Who Cares?
English
Dutch
English
In 1974, six innocent men were wrongfully convicted for the Birmingham pub bombings, a tragedy that claimed 21 lives and shook the United Kingdom. The Birmingham Six spent 16 harrowing years behind bars, victims of a flawed justice system that cared more about securing convictions than uncovering the truth.
This page delves into their story, featuring powerful videos that unpack the miscarriage of justice, the fight to clear their names, and the broader implications for fairness and accountability in the legal system.
The question remains: who truly cares when justice fails? Explore this case and reflect on the lives forever altered by injustice.
Dutch
In 1974 werden zes onschuldige mannen ten onrechte veroordeeld voor de bomaanslagen in pubs in Birmingham, een tragedie die 21 levens eiste en het Verenigd Koninkrijk diep schokte. De Birmingham Six brachten 16 zware jaren door achter tralies, slachtoffers van een gebrekkig rechtssysteem dat meer gericht was op het verkrijgen van veroordelingen dan op het achterhalen van de waarheid.
Deze pagina belicht hun verhaal met krachtige video’s die de gerechtelijke dwaling, de strijd om hun naam te zuiveren, en de bredere implicaties voor rechtvaardigheid en verantwoordelijkheid binnen het juridische systeem uiteenzetten.
De vraag blijft: wie geeft er werkelijk om wanneer gerechtigheid faalt? Verken deze zaak en sta stil bij de levens die voor altijd zijn veranderd door onrecht.
The Birmingham Six were a group of six Irish men who were wrongly convicted of carrying out pub bombings in Birmingham, England in 1974. The key points of this case include:
The bombings took place on November 21, 1974, killing 21 people and injuring more than 160 others.
The six men, Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power, and John Walker, were arrested in November 1974 and charged with the bombings.
Despite having no physical evidence linking them to the bombings, the six men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1975.
The evidence used against them was based on confessions obtained through coercion and brutality by the police during interrogation.
The case gained widespread attention and the convictions were overturned in 1991 after new evidence emerged and a lengthy appeals process.
The case is widely regarded as one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in British legal history and led to reforms in the criminal justice system.
The Birmingham Six case highlighted the issue of police misconduct and brutality, as well as the need for greater protection for suspects during police questioning.
2 Birmingham Pub Bombing (1974): Julie Hambleton and Paddy Hill standing together for justice
3 The Wrongful Imprisonment Of The Birmingham Six | Good Morning Britain
28 jun. 2016
4 Birmingham pub bombings: IRA suspect Hayes issues apology – BBC News
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT
10 jul. 2017
A self-confessed IRA bomb maker who has said he was part of the group responsible for the Birmingham pub bombings has issued an apology.
Twenty-one people were killed on 21 November 1974 when bombs exploded in two city centre pubs.
Six innocent men were wrongfully convicted. No-one has ever been brought to justice for one of the worst single losses of life in the Troubles.
Michael Christopher Hayes said he was sorry innocent people were killed.
The 69-year-old, who now lives in south Dublin, refused to say who planted the bombs in the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town, but said he was speaking out to give “the point of view of a participant”
Why didn’t they just get the peaky blinders after us lol. Garrison went boom boom 
“Real Volunteers”…. Never Talk
🇮🇪 Good Job, should have left the third one 
The I.R.A Southern command carried out the bombings. Watch “the year London blew up” & ye can see an unknown Chris O’ Dowd play the role of an oglach (volunteer) Harry Duggan.
Educational: A Must-Watch
6The Birmingham Six interview, Ireland 1991
3 jan 2025
Richard McIlkenny, Patrick Joseph Hill and Gerard Hunter, three of the Birmingham Six who were jailed for sixteen years for a crime they did not commit, talk about their prison experience and trying to keep their sanity and dignity intact.
Patrick Joseph Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, John Walker and William Power were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975, accused of bombing two pubs in Birmingham which killed twenty-one people and injured hundreds of others, afterwards known as the Birmingham pub bombings.
After 16 years, their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal and they were released on 14 March 1991. Between them, the men served almost 100 years in prison.
Getting used to and enduring the prison regime was one thing, but the Birmingham Six were treated particularly badly, because prison authorities and most officers believed they were guilty.
On their admittance to prison, they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse, and the prison doctor who later visited them was indifferent to their injuries.
If he would have done his job, we wouldn’t have had the prison sentence.
They did however experience kindness and compassion from some of the prison staff at that time.
Gay Byrne remarks on Richard McIlkenny’s lack of rancour. There is no point in carrying bitterness around, explains Richard,
You have to get rid of it…you’re only going to destroy yourself.
It has taken him a long time to get to this point, and also to recover his faith, which returned only after a struggle.
Paddy Joe Hill also noticed while in prison, the effect that bitterness has on people and resolved that he would not go down that route. He promised to clear his name, but also when he came out that he would be the same person who went in,
I was going to be a little bit older, a little bit sadder, but a hell of a lot wiser.
Some people have described Paddy Joe Hill’s statement outside the Old Bailey on the day the Birmingham Six were released as angry and forceful. He maintains the truth is always forceful and he has good reason to be angry having spent over sixteen years in jail for a crime he did not commit,
They told us from the start that they knew we hadn’t done it…they didn’t care who done it…as long as they got convictions they were happy.
This episode of The Late Late Show was broadcast on 22 March 1991.
The presenter is Gay Byrne.
.
7 Birmingham Pub Bombings: What Happened To The Birmingham Six?
9 nov 2024
When innocent people are jailed for crimes they did not commit, what effect does it have on their lives and the lives of their loved ones? Can any amount of compensation be enough to make things right? Bernard O’Mahoney looks into the effects of major miscarriages of justice in episode 6, where he talks to a victim one of the most high-profile cases in UK crime history, The Birmingham Six.
Uncover the intricate web of criminal enterprises, from notorious mob families to high-stakes heists, as we delve into the compelling stories behind the criminal masterminds and law enforcement efforts to bring them to justice.
Educational: Not to Be Missed
Educational: Not to Be Missed
7 The Birmingham Six Release, Live Broadcast R T E 1991
8 The Birmingham Six Release, Live Broadcast R T E 1991
Educational: Not to Be Missed
Educational: Not to Be Missed
9 Birmingham pub bombings: inquests re-opened?
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT
10 The Pogues – Birmingham Six – performed by Greenland Whalefishers with Lyrics – Tribute and Respect
Educationald: Not to Be Missed
12 Birmingham pub bombings: Paddy Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, speaks
14 What the Papers Say on Birmingham Six release and Sunday Times Iraq War hubris
13 mrt. 2016
Educational – Not to Be Missed
15 Birmingham Six Release – Historic Footage Captures First Moments of Freedom (1991)
14 mrt 2024
On 14 March 1991, ITN’s cameras captured the release of the Birmingham Six, the group of Irishmen wrongfully arrested and convicted for the Birmingham pub bombings of November 1974. Patrick Joseph Hill, Richard McIlkenny, Hugh Callaghan, John Walker, Gerard Hunter and William Power were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975, and spent 16 years behind bars before their convitions were overturned. Their release came nearly two years after the release of the Guildford Four, who were imprisoned under similar circumstances following the Guildford pub bomings of October 1974. Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, campaigned for the Six’s release, and features prominently in ITN’s footage of the day.
Educational – Not to Be Missed
17 Gerry Conlon and Paddy Hill speaking at the University of Limerick, School of Law
18 Birmingham Pub Bombings Cover Up 2016-06-01
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT
19 The Year London Blew Up – 1974 (Channel 4 2005)
19 feb. 2017
Told through documentary, drama and first-hand accounts, this revealing film is a unique account of the most ruthless IRA bombing campaign ever to hit mainland Britain.
Producer Mark Hayhurst
Writer Mark Hayhurst
Starring Michael Colgan, Chris O’Dowd
Production Company Blast! Films
Broadcaster Channel4
Fifty explosions rocked the capital at a rate of one per week, leaving 35 people dead and scores more maimed for life. They assassinated the TV personality Ross McWhirter after he announced a £50,000 bounty for their capture. They bombed the flat of former Prime Minister Ted Heath. They bombed Selfridge’s and Harrods. They killed innocent bystanders like Professor Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, the country’s leading cancer specialist. They even set off bombs in pillar boxes, patenting the ‘come-on’ booby trap to target bomb disposal officers. They were also responsible for the pub bombings for which the Guildford Four were wrongly and notoriously convicted.
England had never seen anything like it. The Prevention of Terrorism Act was rushed through Parliament and properties were sand-bagged as if it was wartime. The gang was operating on the principle that one bomb in London was worth ten in Belfast , and they brought ‘The Troubles’ home with extraordinary ferocity. Throughout they lived quietly in safe houses in London , undetected by a massive police operation and the intelligence services, until they lost their discipline and started driving through Mayfair crazily firing their sub-machine guns like Chicago gangsters.
Finally, the police were waiting. In Operation Combo they had flooded the West End with 3,000 men. After a breakneck car chase and gun fight, the gang were cornered in Balcombe Street . The ensuing siege saw an elderly couple – the Matthews – held hostage at gunpoint for five terrifying days in their Marylebone flat while TV cameras zoomed in on the scene around the clock.
20 ITV documentary The Birmingham Six Their Own Story tx 18 03 1991
Back to menu IMPORTANT CONTENT
This film is about the Birmingham Six. On 14 March 1991, Paddy Hill, Hugh Callaghan, Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter, Billy Power and Johnny Walker with Chris Mullin MP stood outside the Old Bailey free after 16 years, having had their convictions overturned for the murder of 21 people in two pubs in Birmingham. That most notorious miscarriage of justice came hard on the heels of other judicial scan- dals and set in motion a series of events. Such was the level of public and political concern that a Royal Commission was established and, ultimately, the collapse of public confidence led to the creation of the Criminal Cases Review Commission 13 years ago as the independent body to investigate miscarriages.
Gepubliceerd op 23 apr. 2011
Why are crooked cops NEVER prosecuted?
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/…
Wrongful Imprisonment – ITV documentary on The Birmingham Six. Could this film be made today?
Buy this and other World In Action documentaries here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Action-…
Comparisons this case to modern day Muslim ‘fit ups’.
On 21 November, 1974, the Mulberry Bush pub at the foot of the city’s Rotunda tower and the nearby Tavern in the Town, were both destroyed within minutes of each other.
Six men imprisoned for the attacks had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal, after 16 years in jail, in March 1991.
The Birmingham Six – Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker – were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975.
Human-rights lawyer Gareth Peirce who helped free the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four is now leading the fight for justice for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes. Here she is interviewed:
I.R.A. suspects the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six spent years in jail before you secured their release. Do their cases offer lessons for today? “I think these cases were an object lesson in how not to do things. It was a very belated dawning that unless an entire national community and the reasons for the conflict were understood, and a political solution devised, there could never be an end to the armed struggle. Now that message has been ignored — there is a completely baffling and frightening failure to understand what motivates political Islam.”
So you see parallels with the current situation? “Speaking to one of the Guildford Four recently, his reaction is: “Those poor guys, those Muslims — that’s exactly what happened to us. Has nobody learned?””
The Guildford Four’s story was the subject of a film, In the Name of the Father.
In August 1975 they were sentenced to life in prison on the basis of the false confessions. The men were denied the right to appeal and forced to wait until 1987 when their case was referred to the Court of Appeal, after new evidence emerged, before being rejected.
Public protests kept the case in the spotlight until August 1990 when forensic investigations showed their confessions had been tampered with.
Granada?
22 Man arrested over 1974 Birmingham Pub Bombings | ITV News
23 Birmingham pub bombings inquest reopened – BBC Newsnight
2 jun. 2016
Educational: must be seen
27 Who Bombed Birmingham? (Part 4)
28 feb. 2010
Director Mike Beckham draws on the facts in the case of two 1974 bomb attacks in Birmingham that left twenty-one dead, and six innocent men wrongly convicted. In this film, Beckham follows the efforts of World in Action researchers Ian MacBride and Chris Mullin in proving that the “Birmingham Six” only admitted to the bombing under extreme duress, and that the five IRA members were in fact responsible for the deadly attacks.
35 Why won’t the police name the Birmingham pub bombing suspects? | Mike Graham
Educational: Not to Be Missed
36 Birmingham Pub Bombings 50th Anniversary
21 nov 2024
Birmingham Pub Bombings: ITV Central special programme | ITV News
6 apr. 2019
37 The Six Irishmen Falsely Jailed For 16 Years Over IRA Bomb | British Gangsters | Absolute Crime
22 mei 2023
Educational: Not to Be Missed
Educational: Not to Be Missed
1 The Birmingham Bombings | An Explosion of Guilt | World in Action Documentary 1980
8 mei 2022
42 Birmingham Pub Bombing : IRA Terrorist Speaks About What Happened
Educational: Not to Be Missed
3 The Birmingham Six – World in Action 1985 – Troubles Documentary
In première gegaan op 12 okt 2023
✅Watch this video and ALL Blocked videos from Youtube via Patreon,
The Birmingham Six – World in Action 1985 – Troubles Documentary
44 WHO BOMBED BIRMINGHAM UPDATE MARCH 2019
Educational: Not to Be Missed
Educational: Not to Be Missed
45 Birmingham Six Release – Historic Footage Captures First Moments of Freedom (1991)
Back to menu IMPORTENT CONTENT Listening recommended Must
On 14 March 1991, ITN’s cameras captured the release of the Birmingham Six, the group of Irishmen wrongfully arrested and convicted for the Birmingham pub bombings of November 1974. Patrick Joseph Hill, Richard McIlkenny, Hugh Callaghan, John Walker, Gerard Hunter and William Power were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975, and spent 16 years behind bars before their convitions were overturned. Their release came nearly two years after the release of the Guildford Four, who were imprisoned under similar circumstances following the Guildford pub bomings of October 1974. Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four, campaigned for the Six’s release, and features prominently in ITN’s footage of the day.
46 Chris Mullin helped free The Birmingham Six, but won’t name real IRA bomber #bomb #injustice #ira
11 apr 2022
In Episode 6 of Chris Sweeney Talks To, journalist Chris Mullin reveals all about his landmark expose.
Following two bombings in Birmingham in 1974, six men were arrested, convicted and put in jail. Chris Mullin reveals how he investigated, made documentaries and also published a book (Error of Judgment).
After his research was ignored by the authorities, finally in 1991 the innocent men were released following 16-years in prison, to international acclaim. He still refuses to name one of the bombers, even though the police took him to court but the judge ruled in his favour.
Chris Sweeney is a feature writer and author. Follow him at @writes_sweeney
Must be seen
47 To Kill The Cabinet – Brighton Bomb Documentary – 1986
The Blonde Git
3 jaar geleden