'Any new pub bombings evidence will be looked at'

Any fresh evidence relating to the Birmingham pub bombings 50 years ago will be investigated, the chief constable of West Midlands Police has said.

Craig Guildford guaranteed he would act if "an ounce" of new evidence was given to the force, regardless of the age of any suspects.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM, he said the case remained open and live.

The Crown Prosecution Service said last summer that no criminal charges would be brought due to insufficient evidence after the force submitted a file of evidence.

The file, submitted in November 2022, was about about an unnamed individual's suspected role in the bombings, but prosecutors said they could not positively identify who planted the bombs.

No-one has ever admitted responsibility or been criminally convicted for the attacks, which killed 21 people when bombs went off at two pubs in the city on 21 November 1974, but it is believed the IRA was behind them.

Mr Guildford admitted he did not know if those responsible would ever be brought to justice but said "what I will guarantee, is if there is an ounce of fresh evidence and if anybody comes forward with fresh evidence, then we will, absolutely, pursue that to the nth degree."

"That's our commitment, regardless of the fact that it happened nearly half a century ago, we know, everybody in the West Mids knows, that those offences had a massive effect on society locally," he added.

"We are very determined that if we get any fresh evidence we will pursue it on behalf of the public regardless of the fact that some of those involved will undoubtedly be very old if not maybe deceased, we will do our level best."

Mr Guildford, who was appointed as chief constable in 2022, said he would never close the case "if there's an opportunity of detecting it and getting justice for the families".

The force had a "ready pool of resources" that investigate such in depth cases and "somebody was dedicated to that case today", he added.

"That case, I assure you, remains absolutely live. If we can get that detected and get justice on behalf of those people that lost their lives, that's what here to do."

Relatives of the victims have been calling for a public inquiry into what happened and said they felt the CPS decision opened the door for that to proceed, as the Home Office had previously stated an inquiry could not happen while a live police investigation was ongoing.

But when asked whether he felt there should be one, Mr Guildford said that was "a decision for politicians to make not for chief constables to make".

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