Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I DIDN’T EMBELLISH ON WHY I OPENED FIRE
Ballymurphy soldier denies claim at victim’s inquest
A FORMER soldier has denied he “embellished” his account of an incident in 1971 to justify his decision to open fire.
The ex-royal Engineer, who has been granted anonymity, was giving evidence during an inquest into the death of Eddie Doherty in Ballymurphy, West Belfast.
The 31-year-old father of four died after he was shot close to a barricade on August 10, 1971.
The former soldier, referred to as M3, was giving evidence for the second day at Belfast Coroner’s Court.
He has said he fired a single shot at a man who had thrown two petrol bombs at him and had been preparing to throw a third.
The ex-soldier has also claimed he saw a man with a gun in the area and fired a “burst of four shots” in his direction.
M3 told the inquest: “I was in fear of my life, I thought I am going to die here.”
Counsel for the Doherty family Fiona Doherty put it to him he had embellished his evidence to justify opening fire, pointing to inconsistencies between a number of statements he has made over the years.
She added: “I am going to suggest to you that you are aware the more aggressive and belligerent this person seems to be from your account, the more support there will be for your decision to open fire.”
M3 said it was the first and only time he had ever fired a gun at a human being.
He described the experience as “terrible” and “the hardest thing I have ever done in my life”.
The former soldier previously told the inquest it was possible the shot he fired had not hit the man with the petrol bomb, but a bystander instead.
Mr Doherty’s family have insisted he was innocent and have spoken of their determination to “clear his name”.
On August 10, 1971, M3 had been tasked to clear a barricade on the Whiterock Road and arrived with a number of soldiers from the Parachute Regiment to a hostile crowd who he said threw missiles at him.
M3 was taken to hospital after the incident, during which he received a blow to the head when a missile struck his military tractor.
He was not seriously injured. The incident came during several days of shootings from August 9 to 11 in the west of the city. Ten people died in Ballymurphy. The inquest continues.