Attorney General seeking fresh probe into 1973 Army killing of six men in New Lodge
NORTHERN Ireland’s Attorney General has urged a new investigation into the deaths of six men killed in shootings involving British soldiers 45 years ago.
The Public Prosecution Service is considering the referral from John Larkin in relation to shootings of the so-called New Lodge Six in north Belfast.
The six Catholics, including three unarmed IRA members, were shot during a night of violence in February 1973.
The Army originally acknowledged it was involved in the incidents, insisting soldiers were engaged in a gun battle with the IRA. There were also suspicions loyalist paramilitaries had a role in the killings.
Families of the men had asked Mr Larkin to order a new inquest into the deaths, claiming the original coroner’s probe did not investigate properly.
The Attorney General has gone further and asked Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron to consider whether the case merits a probe by the PSNI.
Relatives believe a controversial Army unit known as the Military Reaction Force (MRF) was involved in some of the shootings.
PSNI detectives are already investigating allegations that the MRF carried out random and unjustified shootings elsewhere in Belfast during the early 1970s following a previous direction by the PPS.
The six men shot in the New Lodge were 19-year-old IRA members James Sloan, James McCann and Tony Campbell, as well as Catholic civilians John Loughran (35), Brendan Maguire (32) and Ambrose Hardy (26).
A spokeswoman for the PPS said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions recently received a referral from the Attorney General in relation to the fatal shooting of six men in the New Lodge area of Belfast in February 1973.
“The Attorney General has asked the director to consider using the power set out under Section 35 (5) of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 to require the chief constable to ascertain and provide information on the circumstances of the deaths. This referral is under consideration.”
Referrals to the PPS can come from sources including the Attorney General, Appeal Court judges and coroners. In the last six years, there have been 25 referrals, 11 in Troubles-related cases.
Rosaleen Beatty, whose brother Mr Hardy was killed, told the BBC: “I would just like to see justice done.
“They have got away with it so far and we are glad to say that we are getting a wee bit closer maybe to the truth and we hope they do get to the truth.
“We know that they were innocent and they were unlawfully killed. We want them to accept and we want the people who did it to be brought to justice.
“The night that he was shot he was in the Circle Bar and he waved a white flag because there was a bit of a lull and he thought: ‘Well, I will wave a white flag and let people know that we are coming out’.
“But when he put his head out, when he was waving the flag, they shot from the top of the Victoria Flats there, they shot him in the back of the head and he was killed outright.”