Birmingham pub bombings suspect released

Twenty-one people were killed in two blasts on 21 November 1974

A man arrested in connection with the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings which killed 21 people has been released after questioning.

The blasts at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs on the night of 21 November also injured 220 people.

The man, reported to be 65-year-old Michael Patrick Reilly, was arrested at his Belfast home on Wednesday under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Reilly has strongly denied any involvement in the bombings.

Inquests into the deaths of those killed in the bombings found they were unlawfully killed

West Midlands Police said the man was interviewed under caution at a police station in Belfast.

He was released on Thursday. The investigation continues.

In a statement Mr Reilly's solicitor said his client denied any involvement in the matters for which he was questioned, including any knowledge of, or role in, the Birmingham pub bombings.

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Fresh inquests last year ruled the victims were unlawfully killed, but did not establish who was responsible.

Saturday is the 46th anniversary of the bombings.

The arrest came a month after Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would consider the case for a public inquiry into the attacks.

Six men, who became known as the Birmingham Six, were wrongly jailed for the bombings in 1975 following a botched police investigation, but their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991.