02 Informed


Michelle’s Message


An angry mob greeted Chris Mullin two years ago as he leſt the new inquests into the Birmingham pub bombings, the blasts which killed 21 people in 1974. For some of the victims’ families, it was clear that the passing of 44 years had done litle to dim their pain.


Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine died in Te Tavern In Te Town explosion was particularly vehement. According to the Birmingham Post she called Mullin a ‘disgrace’ and questioned ‘how he slept at night’. Despite this fierce emotional pressure, and now an application to the courts, Mullin, an NUJ member for more than 50 years, has refused to disclose information given him in confidence. Some believe that his records could confirm the identity of one or more of those who planted the bombs. The case will be heard at the Old Bailey later this month. I have deep sympathy for those who lost loved ones in such shocking circumstances. But I am just as clear that the NUJ will be backing our member to the hilt. In doing so, I hope that we can persuade the broader public that far from hampering justice, it is Mullin’s steadfast determination to protect his sources that has inched this whole sorry episode towards just resolution. The important facts of this case span


my lifetime, happening in the year I was born. In November 1974 two bombs were detonated in Birmingham pubs, killing 21 and injuring 182. Within hours of the blasts, six Irishmen were arrested, and subsequently given life sentences. In the ensuing 16 years, significant evidence emerged that those convicted had nothing to do with the bombings – most of it unearthed by Mullin’s investigative journalism. Finally, in 1991, their convictions were quashed and the six walked free from the Old Bailey, where they stood, arms aloft, with Mullin in their midst. It is hard to think of a journalistic campaign that was braver at its inception, more doggedly pursued, nor that has been so spectacularly vindicated. Had Mullin not persisted as he did, it is highly likely that ‘the Birmingham Six’ would still in prison, rather than being recognised as victims themselves.


Nothing that Mullin achieved, however,


would have been possible without his absolute commitment to protecting his sources. Seeking out those who planted bombs and directed terrorism, as he did, placed him in very real danger. To win their trust and thereby get to the truth, with no special powers save his dedication and integrity, is a towering journalistic achievement. Had there been any doubt of his commitment to protect his sources, a far greater darkness would hang over this case still.


“It was the NUJ’s defence of Bill Goodwin that established beyond any doubt that a journalist defending their sources has protection in law.”


That the NUJ stands shoulder to shoulder with Mullin will come as no surprise to those who know our union. It was the NUJ’s defence of Bill Goodwin in the 1980s and 1990s that established beyond any doubt that a journalist defending their sources has protection in law.


Goodwin’s case went to the European


Court of Human Rights (a body whose jurisdiction the UK has accepted since 1950 and is unrelated to the European Union). Its ruling was that: “Protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for press freedom ... without such protection, sources may be deterred from assisting the press in informing the public on matters of public interest. As a result the vital public watchdog role of the press may be undermined and the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information may be adversely affected.” This enshrines a vital principle. Alas, it has proved one that prosecutors have found it depressingly easy to forget. A flick through the union’s legal case book provides a depressing litany.


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