Birmingham pub bombings campaigner denies lockdown breach
- Published
Julie Hambleton was issued with the penalty notice after an event to mark the anniversary of the bombings
A Birmingham pub bombings campaigner has denied breaking coronavirus lockdown rules at an anniversary event.
Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in the 1974 attacks, was fined after being accused of attending an illegal gathering "of more than two people" in November 2020.
Miss Hambleton, of Crossway Lane, Birmingham, appeared with two other men at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after failing to pay the £200 fine.
She is set to stand trial in September.
The 58-year-old is accused of joining a gathering near West Midlands Police headquarters on 21 November.
Miss Hambleton, who is a candidate in the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner elections in May, pleaded not guilty.
At the time, England was subject to the second lockdown, before the tier system was introduced on 2 December.
Twenty-one people were killed in two blasts on 21 November 1974
Kevin Gormley, 53, of Beacon Road, Birmingham, and 54-year-old Michael Lutwyche, of Hales Grove, Birmingham, also denied the charge.
Philip Rule, representing the three defendants, said the Crown Prosecution Service had been asked to review "whether the prosecution is to continue in the public interest".
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