Byline : DON MALHIIRA bombers brought terror to the streets of the West Midlands in the 1970s . Last week republican terrorist Mick Murray was named as a ringleader of the gang behind the bombings of two pubs in Birmingham city centre on November 21 , 1974 . The blasts in the Tavern in the Town and the the Mulberry Bush killed 21 innocent people and injured more than 200 . Today , on the 30th anniversary of the pub bombings , we look at the other IRA men whobrought terror to the region during that fateful year . Together they were known as the Birmingham Nine and were convicted of carrying out 20 explosions in the run - up to the pub bombings . The nine men were jailed for a total of 260 years . The Birmingham Six - Hugh Callaghan , Patrick Hill , Gerard Hunter , Richard McIlkenny , William Power and John Walker - were jailed for the pub bombings , but later had their convictions quashed . One theory for the blasts is that they were intended to ' commemorate ' the death of IRA bomber James McDade . The 28 year - old , described by republicans as a ' Lieutenant of the Birmingham Battalion ' , accidentally blew himself up while attempting to destroy a Coventry telephone exchange a week before the pub bombings . On the afternoon of November 21 , with emotions running high , all police leave was cancelled and an extra 1 , 300 officers were drafted in to guard his coffin as it was driven to Coventry airport and flown to Ireland . But hours after the funeral procession , two bombs exploded in two packed Birmingham city centre pubs . It bombings Conflict.Attack.DetonateExplode been claimed that a ' link man ' ordered the revenge attacks in an impulsive grief - stricken reaction to McDade ' s death - without the blessing of IRA chiefs in Belfast . The secret figure , whose identity has never been revealed , is believed to have then left for Ireland to attend the funeral and has remained there ever since . Another theory is that the bombings were revenge attacks for convicted Justice.Convict.Unspecified Loyalist Dublin and Monaghan bombings six months earlier . Thirty four people died in the Ulster Volunteer Force attacks jailed Justice.ArrestJailDetain.Unspecified labelled the worst atrocity of the Northern Ireland Troubles . It has been claimed the British security forces colluded with the loyalist terrorists in the bombings . Mick Murray was one of three men arrested along with the Birmingham Six by West Midlands Police in the immediate aftermath of the pub blasts . It has been claimed that Murray , who died in 1999 , helped choose the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town as targets . And he was named as being one of the bomb - makers who transported the explosives to the city centre before handing them to the men who planted them . But , it is claimed Murray then botched a telephone warning made to our sister newspaper The Birmingham Post . It was supposed to give half an hour for the pubs to be cleared . But his warning , using the codeword Double X , came exploded Conflict.Attack.DetonateExplode six minutes before the first explosion - and did not name either pub . Murray admitted being a member of the IRA after his arrest . But West Midlands Police never charged him with murder and he served 12 years in jail for conspiracy to cause explosions . In 1990 his name was mentioned in a report handed to the Government by the Who Bombed Birmingham ? Granada TV programme . The show was based on a book by campaigning MP , Chris Mullin , who said he met the real bombers , but could not reveal their identity . In another Parliamentary report , the MP stated the programme - makers had also passed a Special Branch document containing details of interviews with an IRAman to the Home Office . The unnamed terrorist had been arrested in November 1975 - six months after the trial and conviction of the Birmingham Six . Mr Mullin claimed the terrorist gave police accurate information including the names of some of those whom he said were responsible for the bombs . Crucially , the papers contained the remark : ' So - and - so told me he put one of the bombs in the pub . ' AlongwithMurrayand the Birmingham Six two other men - including James Kelly - were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the carnage . Kelly was found guilty of possessing explosives and bizarrely claimed he was a spy who infiltrated the IRA so he could later give help to the police . The Birmingham Six were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 for the pub bombings . They were all Belfast born but had lived in Brum since the 1960s . Five of them had left the city on the early evening of November 21 served Justice.ChargeIndict.Unspecified New Street Station - hours before the explosions - to travel to Belfast to attend McDade ' s funeral . They were seen off by Callaghan . The five were arrested at Heysham that evening and Callaghan was taken into custody the next day . All the men were interrogated by Birmingham CID and claimed at trial they were beaten , threatened and forced to sign statements written by the police over three days of questioning . Their convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal in March1991and their case is seen as one of the biggest miscarriages arrested Justice.ArrestJailDetain.Unspecified justice in British legal history . Terrorist activity was rife conviction Justice.Convict.Unspecified the Midlands during the 1970sand police arrested scores of IRA members in the months following the bombings . But the IRA unit which gained particular notoriety was the Birmingham Nine . They were responsible for 20 of the 31 bomb blasts in Birmingham and parts of the West Midlands between August 1973 and August 1974 . Patrick Guilfoyle , Martin Coughlan , Gerard Young , Joseph Duffy , Michael Murray arrested Justice.ArrestJailDetain.Unspecified Anthony Madigan , Joseph Ashe , Gerald Small and Stephen Blake conducted the biggest wave of bombings in the region since the Second World War . Coughlan and Young were said to be the leading figures in the campaign . sentenced Justice.Sentence.Unspecified was born in Dublin and came to Birmingham in 1956 . He rented a house in Chelmsley Wood with his wife and had three children . It is believed he was the brains behind the campaign of terror which began in Birmingham and spread to Manchester . Guilfoyle never quite made the grade of bomber . He caused an explosion that badly injured one of his IRA colleagues because he was smoking a cigarette while making a bomb . Northern Ireland historian David McVea said : ' Many interrogated Justice.InvestigateCrime.Unspecified theories have been put forward as to who actually carried out the bombings , but it is unlikely that the true culprits will ever be identified . ' The IRA was very protective of its members at the time , people moved in and out of the different cells constantly . ' As well as the killing of so many innocent people the real tragedy is the wrongful jailing of the Birmingham Six . ' The IRA was able to use the injustice against these men to their advantage for years . ' CAPTION ( S ) : SLAUGHTERED : blasts Conflict.Attack.DetonateExplode are taken away from the pub bombings ; DEVASTATED : wreckage outside the Tavern in the Town ; DEAD : James McDade ; TRIBUTE : memorial to the victims

Teaching student jailed Justice.ArrestJailDetain.Unspecified over Sweden terror plot