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Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six and the family of Maxine Hambleton, who was killed in one of the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974,听come face to face for the first time in听the documentary Who Murdered Maxine?

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The coming together of the two sides from opposite ends of this tragedy garnered an unlikely alliance between the two parties.

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During what is a very tense and emotional meeting, some common ground is found which culminates in Paddy offering to give Brian and Julie Hambleton access to a complete set of files relating to the case, which are held at his solicitors in London.

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Remarkably, after almost 40 years, this is the first time that the family has ever been shown any evidence relating to their sister鈥檚 murder.

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Paddy Hill says: 鈥淭he sooner we get the truth then maybe for the living relatives of those who died and for those that were injured and are still alive, maybe then there will be some closure. But none of us will have closure until we do know the truth.鈥�

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Unlikely alliance

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The meeting was filmed at The Tim Parry and Jonathan Ball Peace Centre in Warrington which was built in memory of the two young boys who were killed when an IRA bomb exploded in the town 20 years ago.

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The meeting between the Hambletons and Paddy Hill is a milestone for both parties.

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For 16 and a half years the Hambletons believed that Paddy Hill was one of the people responsible for the death of their sister in the Tavern In The Town pub in Birmingham almost 40 years ago.

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The Hambletons said meeting Paddy Hill was one of the hardest things they have ever done. Brian said it was "like going to meet the enemy" but got to ask Mr Hill once and for all if he murdered his sister.

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After an emotional first meeting, the Hambletons seemed satisfied with Mr Hill's answers.

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Brian Hambleton says: 鈥淚 feel absolutely numb. I can鈥檛 believe I鈥檝e just met and spent time with the man I鈥檝e always been told and believed has murdered my sister. But if it wasn鈥檛 for the facts from my own investigation that we鈥檝e done, which are comparable with what he says to us, I couldn鈥檛 have sat here for the length of time I have done.鈥�

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Mr Hill and the Hambletons parted on good terms after his offer to show them the case files.

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The film follows the Hambletons ahead of the 39th anniversary of the bombings that claimed the life of their sister along with 20 other people and injured almost 200 more in the centre of Birmingham on 21 November 1974.

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The family's campaign

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The film also looks at the Justice4the21 campaign headed by the Hambletons, which is aiming to get the case into who actually bombed Birmingham reopened and the killers brought to justice - something they are finding difficult to do.

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Julie Hambleton says: 鈥淚f they鈥檇 done everything that was humanly possible then how come the perpetrators are still out there with their liberty?鈥�

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Julie and Brian wrote to West Midlands Police a year ago to ask for the case to be reopened.

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The 麻豆官网首页入口 team visited West Midlands Police Headquarters in Birmingham and spoke to the Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Marcus Beale, in his role of head of the force's Counter Terrorism Unit about the case.

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Mr Beale says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much on record that the original work was found to be flawed by the court of appeal. The approach that was taken to managing families in these types of cases is very different today than it was then and it鈥檚 right that we have a much closer relationship with them. We鈥檙e definitely doing this because it is the right thing to do and it鈥檚 right that we should be able to answer their questions in time.鈥�

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The family hope to collect 100,000 signatures for their campaign in order to prove they have Birmingham鈥檚 backing and in turn prompt a debate in Parliament.

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To date only 10,000 people have signed up to the cause. One of the signatories is Paddy Hill himself; another is Northern Ireland鈥檚 First Minister Peter Robinson.

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Mr Robinson says: 鈥淚鈥檝e been reading something of the campaign and obviously from a Northern Ireland perspective we look very closely, there was massive empathy and sympathy at the time of the bombing itself."

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He added: I鈥檝e indicated to the group that if they want to compile a dossier I鈥檒l put it into the hands of the Prime Minister. I believe that if the Prime Minister looks at the arguments that they鈥檙e putting forward there鈥檚 every reason that there should be an investigation.鈥�

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Each anniversary of the bombings that claimed their sister鈥檚 life brings reflection, but this year has been about moving forward and bringing the campaign for justice for the 21 victims to the public鈥檚 attention.

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Brian says: 鈥淚鈥檝e always had the sense that the people in power - MPs, governments, the police - think that we would probably only last five minutes, but we鈥檙e still here, we won鈥檛 go away. I don鈥檛 know how long I鈥檒l be on this planet for, but I will be fighting this until the day I die.鈥�

Twenty one people were murdered and 182 were injured when terrorists blew up two Birmingham pubs on the same night in 1974.听听听听

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The family of one of the victims, Maxine Hambleton, has been campaigning to establish the truth about who carried out the Birmingham bombings.听

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Can an unlikely alliance between the family and Paddy Hill of the 'Birmingham Six' establish the truth about the Birmingham pub bombings nearly 40 years ago?

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on the 麻豆官网首页入口 News website,

The bombings took place at two pubs - The Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town - on 21 November 1974.

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into the Birmingham pub bombings on the 麻豆官网首页入口 News website.