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Pub bombings son will never give up fighting

BBC Paul Bridgewater is wearing a grey jacket and tweed cap standing outside the Mailbox in Birmingham with city buildings in the backgroundBBC
Paul Bridgewater said his mother never got over what happened

A man whose father was killed in the Birmingham pub bombings 50 years ago has said there are still too many unanswered questions surrounding the attacks.

Paul Davies was one of 21 people who were killed when two bombs destroyed the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in the city in November 1974, with 220 others injured.

Paul Bridgewater was born three months later and said his mother, who was young at the time of the bombings, "never really got over it".

Campaigners' calls for a public inquiry have intensified since a decision in 2023 not to bring criminal charges following a reinvestigation.

No-one has been criminally convicted and no-one has admitted responsibility, but it is believed the IRA was behind the bombings.

A new BBC podcast explores what happened on the night and in the 50 years since.

Although six men - known as the Birmingham Six - were found guilty in 1975, their convictions would be quashed in 1991.

Family Paul is wearing a woolly hat and brown top and has his arm around a friendFamily
Seventeen-year-old Paul Davies (r) was walking past the Tavern in the Town pub when the blast went off
Watch on BBC iPlayer

"At the time, we always thought it was the Birmingham Six that did it, so growing up up at school it was 'your dad died in the the pub bombings, it was the IRA'.

"Gradually as I got older I started to get more interested in it."

After the Birmingham Six were acquitted he said he felt there was "a big void".

"As a kid, knowing I didn't have my father around, it just had a massive impact and my mum, she's never really got over and it has been nearly 50 years now," he added.

He said an inquiry was the only way he and other campaigners would get the answers they needed and said he would never give up.

"There are loads of questions we need answering. Loads," he said.

Getty Images A black and white photo of the aftermath of the explosion at one pub. Debris and glass can be seen on the floor with a sign of M&B Brew XI on the building Getty Images
Twenty one people died and more than 200 were injured in the attacks in 1974

Mr Bridgewater said it was important to keep talking about what happened to "keep it relevant to a wider audience".

"We have been campaigning for a long time with the Justice for the 21 group, and campaigning with our legal team to basically get an inquiry," he said.

"This is a journey. I will never give up and and none of my family members will ever ever give up.

"My daughter will take on that baton when I can no longer do do it.

"I do not think it is a lot to ask - it's 50 years and we still do not have have the facts."

Photos of all the victims bar one
Twenty one people died and more than 200 were injured in the attacks in 1974

He said meetings had taken place with various people from the Home Office over the years but had yielded nothing.

"You get to a point and then someone changes and you're starting again so it's like like a stumbling block and you start again," he said.

However, conversations were continuing which he remained hopeful about, he said.

The Pub Bombings podcast is available to listen to now on BBC Sounds.

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This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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