Innocents ‘hounded for doing their jobs’
TWO elderly paratroopers learned yesterday that they will face trial next year for the murder of a known IRA gunman 46 years ago.
Soldiers A and C – who cannot be named for their own safety – are accused of killing Joe McCann, 24, in April 1972. A third member of the patrol has since died.
The anonymity protecting the two soldiers is also to be reviewed.
McCann was killed in the Markets area of Belfast in disputed circumstances and was unarmed. At the time he was at the top of the RUC Special Branch’s most wanted list.
An RUC investigation at the time of the killing decided not to prosecute anyone involved.
In 1971 McCann’s unit was linked to the killing of Robert Bankier, the first British soldier to be killed by the Official IRA.
McCann was famously photographed against the background of a burning building holding an M1 carbine while under siege from the Army in a bakery.
In 1972 he was linked to the attempted assassination of Ulster Unionist politician and Northern Ireland minister for Home Affairs John Taylor who was shot five times but survived.
McCann’s family has always insisted that he was murdered.
Two years ago Corporal Bankier’s daughter, who was 23-months-old when he was killed, said McCann got what he deserved.
Anna-Marie Bankier, 48, from Ipswich, said: “From what I have been told, there was an investigation many years ago and these men were cleared of any wrongdoing. So why, after all these years are they being re-investigated?
“It seems to me like they are being hounded just for doing their jobs. It is diabolical and disgusting after all this time. They are old guys now. What purpose is it serving?”
She added: “I believe in karma. If he killed my dad, he got what he deserved.
“I feel sorry for the families of these two soldiers who have been charged. It is not good for them to have this raked up again. I hope they get off.”