a crime they did not commit, were released onto the streets outside the Old Bailey in London at 1605 GMT.
The police told us from the start they knew we hadn ' t done it
Paddy Hill
They were greeted by cheering crowds, as they punched their fists in the air and waved celebrating their first taste of freedom.
Richard McIlkenny was first to speak. " It ' s good to see you all," he said. " We ' ve waited a long time for this- 16 years because of hypocrisy and brutality. But every dog has its day and we ' re going to have ours."
Paddy Hill was next to step up to the microphone. " For 16 and a half years we have been used as political scapegoats," he said.
" The police told us from the start they knew we hadn ' t done it. They didn ' t care who had done it."
The six were arrested in 1974. They had left Birmingham shortly before the bombs exploded in two city centre pubs in the bloodiest ever IRA attack.
The Mulberry Bush pub and the Tavern were both destroyed in the blasts. Twenty-one people were killed, more than 160 injured. The men claimed in court they had confessed only after being beaten by police.