Protecting the innocent and the guilty: Why the identity of the Birmingham bomber remains a secret

The 1974 Birmingham pub bombings is the largest unsolved crime in British history - however, for 16 years that wasn't the case.

In 1975, the Birmingham Six were jailed for life after being found guilty at Lancaster Castle for murdering 21 people.

Five of the six Northern Irishmen, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker were arrested in Heysham.

They were trying to attend the funeral of James McDade in Belfast, an IRA member who had accidentally blown himself up in Coventry when trying to plant a bomb.

The sixth member, Hugh Callaghan, was arrested shortly after in Birmingham.

Those two bombs killed 21 and injured around 200 people. The bombs exploded in two different pubs, The Mulberry Bush and The Tavern, both were near Birmingham New Street station.

The imprisonment of the Birmingham Six turned out to be the "the most serious miscarriage of justice in living memory".

That's according to journalist and former MP Chris Mullin, who was central in the campaign for The Birmingham Six to be released after being falsely convicted.

Chris Mullin authored Error of Judgement: The Truth About The Birmingham Bombings. This shed new light on who the real perpetrators were, why the confessions of The Birmingham Six were seriously flawed and why the evidence used was not concrete also.

After years of campaigning and investigating, Mullin was proved right. In 1994, The Birmingham Six's conviction was overturned. They were later compensated between £840,000 to £1.2 million.

It wasn't just the wrongful conviction, it was also in the manner in which they got there.

Chris told ITV News Central: "It was clear from the outset there was something seriously wrong.

"The confessions were extremely thin and not very credible."

The Birmingham Six accused West Midlands Police officers at the time of forcing them into those confessions, both physically and coercively, for crimes that they did not commit.

This was heard in the first trial, but it was only when an appeal was heard with case-shattering fresh information from Mullin about the real identities of the people involved in the bombings, that the Birmingham Six's accounts were taken seriously.

They were freed 17 years later. Despite their new-found freedom, they could never forget the devastating impact the imprisonment had on the lives of the six men.

''Their families were destroyed, they had lots of children between them. In some cases their homes were attacked.''

Mullin's work was extensive, he was supported by Granada and ITV's World in Action programme to fund his investigative work.

In addition to finding the guilty parties, he worked tirelessly in discrediting the forensic evidence used in the original trial.

But his ability to get confessions from the supposed five perpetrators came at a cost, their anonymity.

According to Mullin, "Three are dead, one is alive and living in Dublin and has given a number of interviews hinting quite strongly he was involved, his name is Michael Christopher Hayes."

The other planter remains anonymous and Hayes has denied his involvement in the bombings.

While Mullin's fight for justice for The Birmingham Six has given him an heroic status among many.

His determination to protect the identity of the living person involved with the bombings mean he's an obstacle in the eyes of some, particularly the families of the victims of the bombings.

Despite this, the former Labour MP insists he will never change his stance, saying: "I'm a journalist by profession. I understand people who are not journalists, lawyers or doctors who may not understand the importance of the duty of confidentiality but I expect anybody who's a journalist to understand it.

"The simple fact is that no-one would have talked to me if I had gone to them 'I would like to talk about your role in the Birmingham pub bombings but I will plaster it all over the newspapers', that would not have worked.

"I was never under the illusion I could catch the perpetrators. My central purpose was to rescue these innocent people who had served a long sentence in prison, 17 years."

Mullin's journalistic duty was taken to the high court. In 2022 he won the legal battle to protect the identity of the bomber.

Yet it's not just a matter of duty for Mullin, and he's convinced that revealing the identity of the planter would risk the identity of innocent parties also.

"I am not at liberty to disclose [the planter] because that was the condition which he cooperated.

"It was also all the people in between who led me to him."

"That assurance had to be given from me not just to the guilty but to the innocent."

50 years on, and the campaign for justice from the families of those killed or injured continues to be heard. The anniversary of the tragic mass-murder is a timely reminder of the vital information withheld from public knowledge.

Calls for a public inquiry could bring about fresh information into the case. Last month Security Minister Dan Jarvis confirmed to Parliament that he and the Home Secretary will consider requests for a public inquiry as soon as possible.

A government spokesperson has said: "Our deepest sympathies remain with all those who continue to be affected by the horrific pub bombings in Birmingham in 1974."

Another possibility is the remaining bomber to reveal his own identity. Mullin said this was unlikely, as they've had "plenty of time to confess".

The man who has dedicated his life to solving the historic event believes we're now at an impasse. However, the longer the calls for justice for the real Birmingham pub bombings are sought, the more questions will still need answering.

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