'Nobody has stood up for us' says sister of pub bombings victim

It was a moment Julie Hambleton will never forget.

The moment she was told by her stepfather, that among the 21 people killed in the Birmingham pub bombings, was Maxine - the 18-year-old sister she loved so much.

Six men were arrested and the following year were jailed for life for the atrocity.

16 years later, their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal amid a series of public scandals about the West Midlands Police Serious Crime Squad.

So, just who did kill the 21 people? And why does the case remain officially unsolved?

Julie Hambleton and others are demanding action.

West Midlands Police are looking once again at the bombings. It is the 40th anniversary this year.

They are close to making announcements about their progress by a team of detectives which they say has been "considerable".

So far their work appears to be concentrating on collating thousands of old exhibits and asking experts whether new forensic techniques could be applied.

In a statement the force said:

For the Birmingham Six and their families the sense of injustice continues too.

They felt they had been used as scapegoats in 1974 - partly to calm anti-Irish tensions in the city at the time.

Richard McIlkenny and Gerry Hunter speaking to ITV News Central in 1991.

Julie Hambleton is at the forefront of the campaign 'Justice for the 21'.

She says she will not rest until someone is brought to account for what was one of Britain's worst ever terrorist atrocities.

She cannot believe that killers have got away with mass murder.

Her campaigning is for all the victims.

But most of all she is fighting for Maxine.

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