UK judge backs journalist over 1974 bombings source

A journalist on Tuesday won a legal challenge against a police force trying to force him to disclose the identity of a bomber behind one of the UK's worst terror attacks.

Chris Mullin successfully blocked West Midlands Police from using anti-terrorism legislation to reveal who planted the bombs that ripped through two Birmingham pubs in 1974.

Mullin, a former Labour MP and minister in prime minister Tony Blair's government, wrote a book that helped secure the release of six men wrongly convicted of the atrocity.

During research, the real bomber made a "full confession" to him, a court hearing in London was told last month. But the author promised never to reveal his identity.

In a ruling, judge Mark Lucraft backed Mullin, who was supported in the case by the National Union of Journalists, and said he did not have to hand over his notes to police.

Mullin's lawyer, Louis Charalambous, said the ruling was "a landmark" for freedom of expression, and recognised the public interest of exposing a miscarriage of justice.