Birmingham pub bomb families get campaigning award

Twenty-one people died and more than 180 were injured after bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs

Families of victims and survivors of the Birmingham pub bombings are to receive a human rights award.

Rights organisation Liberty is recognising the Justice4the21 campaign for its successful lobby to reopen inquests partially heard in 1974.

Twenty-one people died and 222 were injured after bombs exploded in two pubs on 21 November that year.

The group has used its own money to fund legal aid and to lobby for a new police investigation and inquest.

In June, Birmingham Coroner Louise Hunt ruled the hearings would be reopened, saying a "wealth of evidence that still has not been heard".

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Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was killed in the attacks, said the award was a poignant marker of a long and hard fought campaign.

She will be in attendance to collect the 'Long Walk Award' alongside other members of the campaign.

Julie Hambleton lost her sister Maxine in the pub bombings

"We have faced many challenges, we have fought of our own volition, of our own time, money and we have invested all of our emotional energy into bringing about a resumed inquest for our loved ones," she said.

"It is very moving for us. It is hard to put into words how we feel, but we do what we do for those who aren't here to fight for justice themselves. If we don't do it then no one is going to do it for them."

The awards are at the Royal Court Theatre in London on Wednesday.