IRA commander had killed 15 UK soldiers, court told
An IRA commander allegedly killed by two paratroopers had been responsible for the deaths of
15 British soldiers, a landmark trial heard yesterday.
Joe McCann, who was shot and killed by the British Army in April 1972, was also in charge of ‘‘punishment’’ and ‘‘reprisal’’ attacks in his own community in Belfast including ‘‘tarring and feathering’’ and shooting of his victims, the court heard.
McCann’s ‘‘known modus operandi’’ was to lure army patrols into an ambush and then to ‘‘fire from cover’’.
Two former British soldiers (both now in their 70s) went on trial in Belfast yesterday accused of McCann’s murder. The soldiers, who can be identified only as A and C, sat impassively in the dock as they listened to witnesses recall events from almost half a century ago.
Bespectacled and balding, they wore suits, ties and protective
Covid-19 face masks as they pleaded not guilty in the first socalled ‘‘legacy murder trial’’ of army veterans. As many as 200 army veterans face criminal investigation and possible prosecution for killings during the Troubles.
The prosecution of the two elderly men, who have never previously been arrested or convicted of any crime, has caused outrage with Johnny Mercer, a former army captain who quit as Defence Minister last week over the failure of the Government to put in place legislation to protect soldiers from prosecution over the Troubles.
Mercer, who flew to Belfast to attend the opening day of the trial, said: ‘‘It is heartbreaking to see two men in their 70s dragged into court like this. It’s just not right. It is unfair. In any conflict it is messy, it is unpleasant and a horrible process for both sides.
‘‘This is an appalling injustice. What’s happening today is the totemic symptom of how the UK as a nation looks after her veterans.’’
Opening the Crown case to Mr
Justice O’Hara, a barrister for the prosecution said McCann, who was 24, was shot in the back as he ran away from soldiers trying to capture him in the Markets area of Belfast on April 15, 1972.
McCann, a father-of-four and a ‘‘most dangerous’’ member of the Official IRA, was unarmed and the prosecutor said his death was unlawful and not justified.
His widow Anne sat in court along with other members of his family. They said before the trial that delays by the British Government and a failure to investigate the shooting at the time had left them waiting almost 50 years for justice.
The Crown barrister said that on the afternoon of the fatal shooting, members of C Company of the Parachute Regiment were on patrol when they were informed by an RUC Special Branch officer of the presence of McCann, who was a wanted man.
The plain-clothes police officer requested the army’s assistance. The prosecution alleges that McCann, who was wearing a disguise, resisted arrest, pushed a police officer to the ground, and ran along Joy St before three soldiers ‘‘opened fire at him with their rifles’’.