Birmingham pub bombings: Inquests postponed by two weeks

Twenty-one people died when two bombs were detonated in Birmingham in 1974

The inquests into the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings have been put back so lawyers for the families can examine more potential evidence.

Many of the new documents have come from the government and police, with a pre-inquest hearing being told there are still 2,000 pages to come.

Lawyers said "every stone [must be] turned over".

The inquests were expected to start on 11 February but will now take place from 25 February.

The families of the victims have fought for years to have inquests reopened

More than 20,000 pages of possible evidence has been identified, coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC was told at a hearing at Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre.

Kevin Morgan, counsel for ten of the families, said disclosure of the documents is "the golden thread that runs through this whole procedure".

It was a case, he said, in which "rumour and suspicion abound" and it was important for public confidence that "every stone is turned over".

He said the families felt there had been a "filtering or extraction" of official documents from the time.

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A total of 21 people were killed and 220 were injured in the explosions in two city centre pubs, the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town, in November 1974.

To the disappointment of the families, the coroner has ruled out the naming of those suspected of carrying out the bombings.

Six men, known as the "Birmingham Six", were jailed for the bombings in 1975 but their convictions were subsequently quashed.

Ten people were killed in the Mulberry Bush explosion

Amendment 14 March 2019: This story has been updated to reflect the most recent information that 220 people were injured in the blasts.