Long-awaited inquests into the deaths of 21 people in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings are set to get under way.
Hearings lasting up to five weeks will include pen portraits of each of the victims, with the coroner expected to begin with jury selection and an opening statement today.
The inquests, which are being held in Birmingham, are the culmination of years of campaigning by relatives of the dead for a full account into the circumstances of what happened on the night of November 21, 1974.
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was 18 when she was killed in the Birmingham Bombing, hopes the inquest which begins today will provide some answers after 45 years
Maxine Hambleton was 18 when she was killed in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974
The question of identifying precisely who the bombers were will not form part of proceedings, coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC has already ruled.
The IRA bombings of the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs was the deadliest post-Second World War attack on the British mainland, until the July 7 London blasts in 2005.
A botched investigation by West Midlands Police led to the convictions of the Birmingham Six, who were found guilty of the murders a year later.
Their imprisonment became a cause celebre for many years and one of the country's most infamous miscarriages of justice.
A man grips an ambulance bar in pain after being among more than 180 people injured in two blasts seven minutes apart
A body is carried from the Mulberry Bush pub in Birmingham after it was wrecked by a bomb in 1974
This picture shows the Mulberry Bush pub reduced to rubble following the bombing
Glass from the pub's shattered windows was blown out over the pavements by the explosion
The bombs destroyed the Mulberry Bush pub (left) and the Tavern in the Town (right)
Their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, after the men had spent 16 years behind bars.
Sir Peter, the former chief coroner for England and Wales, previously said: 'The events of November 21, 1974 brought about the tragic deaths of 21 people.
'These were calamitous events and require full and fair investigation at least as far as the inquest procedures may permit, under law.'
Julie Hambleton (second from left), and Michelle Sealey (left) and Paul Bridgewater (right) whose father Paul Davies was also among those killed, gathered with other relatives in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral in Birmingham today
A memorial was erected to the 21 victims of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral in Birmingham
He previously ruled that the hearings will be Article 2 inquests, examining whether the British state or its agents failed to adequately protect the victims.
As well as those who died on the night, 182 were wounded.
Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was among those killed, will be attending the inquest.
Speaking before the jury hearings, she has said all the families of the bereaved were seeking was 'truth, justice and accountability'.
Sir Peter Thornton QC, the coroner in charge, successfully argued last year it was not for him to investigate who was really responsible for the bombings
Last year campaigners reacted with dismay to the ruling that this inquest will not address the issue of who actually perpetrated the atrocity.
Sir Peter Thornton QC, the coroner in charge, won a Court of Appeal challenge in September, successfully arguing it was not his job to investigate who was responsible for the two bombs, which killed 21 and injured 182 people.
Julie Hambleton said at the time: 'We feel as though we’ve been punched in the stomach again.
'What we do, we do for 21 people who aren’t here to do it for themselves.
'They don’t have a voice, they don’t have a physical presence, but we do so we are their voice.'
Last month it was announced that an inquest into the deaths of four soldiers and a civilian at a pub in Guildford the same year is to resume after 45 years.
The murders resulted in the wrongful imprisonment of the 'Guildford Four' who were released in 1989 and whose case was often mentioned in the same breath as the Birmingham Six.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/25/families-hope-for-answers-at-inquests-of-21-victims-of-1974-birmingham-pub-bombings-35-years-on/
Main photo article Long-awaited inquests into the deaths of 21 people in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings are set to get under way.
Hearings lasting up to five weeks will include pen portraits of each of the victims, with the coroner expected to begin with jury selection and an opening statement today.
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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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