Documentary Claims To Have Identified Former British Soldier As IRA Pub Bomber

Outside of the Mulberry Bush after the attack (Picture: PA).

Documentary-makers claim to have identified two prime suspects, one a former British soldier, in the 1974 IRA Birmingham pub bombings.

The bombs at the Tavern in the Town and Mulberry Bush killed 21 people and injured another 220.

One of the men named in the ITV Exposure programme, which is to be broadcast on Monday, is convicted IRA bomber and former British soldier James Francis Gavin.

Gavin, who has since died, is alleged in the documentary 'Hunt For The Birmingham Bombers' to have been one of the people who planted the bombs.

The second suspect is shown being asked about his alleged role by programme-makers outside a Belfast supermarket. 

He declined to comment and his lawyers told the programme: "Our client denies all the allegations ... and does not intend to respond any further to the unfounded allegations you have made."

The documentary will suggest that the Crown Prosecution Service previously examined the case against the new suspect and concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

An investigation by West Midlands Police immediately after the incident led to the jailing of the 'Birmingham Six' which was seen as one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice as the convictions were quashed in 1991 after a long battle by campaigners.

Nobody else has since been found guilty of the attacks.

The Court of Appeal ruled last week that a coroner had been right to exclude identifying alleged perpetrators of the attacks in fresh inquests.