A British journalist and former MP and minister won a legal battle against a police force attempting to force him to reveal the identity of a bomber behind the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings that rocked the UK.

Chris Mullin blocked an attempt by West Midlands Police from using anti-terrorism legislation to reveal the perpetrator that planted bombs, which exploded in two pubs in Birmingham in 1974. Six people were indicted for the bombings and imprisoned.

The attacks, which were blamed on the Irish Republican Army (IRA), killed 21 people and injured many others. 

Mullin wrote a book that helped in the release of six men wrongly convicted of the crime. According to him, the real bomber made a "full confession" to him, but he promised to never reveal the real perpetrator's identity.

A judge backed Mullin's claim, and the latter was supported by the National Union of Journalists, saying he did not need to give the police his notes, as "the right of a journalist to protect his or her sources is fundamental to a free press in a democracy." Mullin previously accused the police of failing to conduct a proper investigation.

"If a confidential source cannot rely on a journalist's promise of lifelong protection then these investigations will never see the light of day," Mullin's lawyer said. The so-called Birmingham Six, who had been found guilty for the bombings, spent 17 years in jail and were released in 1991.