Police probe found no evidence British Paras were guilty of IRA killer’s murder
A POLICE inquiry into the shooting of a top IRA gunman in 1972 by two British paratroopers failed to find new or compelling evidence, a court heard yesterday.
A civilian investigator said the probe had not established a reasonable suspicion that the men were guilty of an offence.
Soldiers A and C, both in their 70s, deny the murder of Official IRA leader Joe McCann, 24, in Belfast.
He was shot after an RUC officer tried to arrest him and he ran off. The court heard on Monday that McCann was unarmed at the time.
It also heard that he was Northern Ireland’s most wanted terrorist and had killed 15 British soldiers.
A and C are the first British veterans to be tried over “legacy” killings during The Troubles. They gave statements in 1972 with no further action, but in 2010 the case was reinvestigated. They were interviewed under caution by the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI’s) Historical Enquiries Team (HET).
A civilian investigator with
HET told Belfast Crown Court yesterday that the re-examination of the case had not established anything that would justify reopening the case.
The retired policeman said by video link: “I couldn’t see any new or compelling evidence after interviewing the soldiers.” He did not anticipate the soldiers would be prosecuted after the HET interviews.
And he also confirmed HET received a letter from the McCann family saying they were seeking “truth not retribution” over the fatal shooting.
Counsel for Soldier A said he had suffered a stroke in 2005, meaning he had a “lack of memory” about the events.
Four other British veterans face prosecution over other killings during The Troubles but hundreds more could face reinvestigation.
The trial, before Mr Justice O’Hara, is judge-only amid fears that a jury could be intimidated.
The trial continues.