UK

UK court rules that Chris Mullin need not reveal his sources

Police had sought to have him hand over Birmingham Six investigation notebooks

Chris Mullin speaking to the media outside the Old Bailey in London on Tuesday. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Tue Mar 22 2022 - 20:25

A journalist and who investigated the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings will not have to hand over his notes to police after they lost a legal bid to force him to reveal his sources.

Chris Mullin, 74, challenged an application by West Midlands Police to require him to disclose source material dating back to his investigation in 1985 and 1986.

In his book, Error Of Judgement, and a series of documentaries, Mr Mullin, a former MP and minister, helped expose one of the worst miscarriages of justice, leading to the release of the Birmingham Six after their convictions were quashed in 1991.

Twenty-one people were killed in the bomb attack on two pubs in Birmingham on November 21st, 1974.

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Handing down his ruling on Tuesday morning, the Recorder of London Judge Mark Lucraft said that among the issues he had had to consider was whether there was “a clear and compelling case that there is an overriding public interest that might displace Chris Mullin’s strong Article 10 right to protect his confidential journalistic source.

“On this issue I do not find an overriding public interest to displace the journalistic source protection right. ”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Mullin said he was “grateful” for the decision, saying journalists’ right to protect sources is “fundamental to a free press in a democracy”. - PA

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