Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
INNOCENT
» Coroner clears names of 10 shot dead 50 yrs ago » Bittersweet joy for families after years of torment
TEN people killed by the Army in Ballymurphy in August 1971 were entirely innocent, a coroner said yesterday.
There were scenes of “bittersweet” joy as the families of those who were shot dead heard their loved ones’ names cleared.
John Teggart, whose father Danny was among those killed, said: “Each day we relived the horror of what happened.”
RELATIVES of the 10 people killed in Ballymurphy have welcomed a ruling that their loved ones were “entirely innocent”.
There were jubilant scenes outside Belfast Coroner’s Court as the families of those shot in August 1971 emerged to cheers from supporters.
John Teggart, whose father Danny died, welcomed the “historic verdict”.
He said: “After 50 years they have finally had their names cleared.”
The daughter of Joseph Corr, another of those killed, said the inquest verdict had gone further than she had hoped.
Eileen Mckeown said: “I was expecting them just to say they were innocent.
“But when she said my daddy and John Laverty weren’t gunmen, and never should have been branded gunmen, that was really brilliant.
“We have fought long and hard for this, for 50 years, to declare my daddy an innocent man.”
Her sister Geraldine Douglas added: “The fight is won, big time.”
However, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou Mcdonald described the day as “bittersweet” with Prime Minister Boris Johnson promising legislation over the prosecution of former soldiers for incidents during the Troubles.
The Army has been found to be responsible for nine of the 10 deaths in Ballymurphy, which included a mother-ofeight and a Catholic priest.
Coroner Mrs Justice Keegan said there was not enough evidence for her to determine where the shot that killed John Mckerr, came from, but branded it “shocking there was no adequate investigation of the killing”.
Solicitor Padraig O Muirigh, who represents the families, said they have instigated civil action against the MOD. He added: “In light of these finding, they will be pushing on with that.” Briege Voyle, daughter of victim Joan Connolly, called for the disbandment of the Parachute Regiment, describing it as a “disgrace”.
She added: “They they were not brave soldiers. They were nothing but cowards. “They shot my mummy, an unarmed mother of eight, from the safety of their barracks.” Mark Thompson, from the Relatives for Justice campaign group, said “from the moment they were shot, the misinformation, lies and cover-up began”.
He added: “It should never have taken 50 years to reach the truth”.
The findings, he said, “underline the need for effective remedy and investigations”.
The coroner acknowledged it was a chaotic time but ruled the use of force by soldiers had been “disproportionate” in the deaths the Army was found as responsible for.
The shootings started on August 9, hours after internment without trial was introduced when scores of arrests were made of IRA suspects.
Violence erupted across the country in reaction to the mass arrests.
Applause erupted in the room when Mrs Justice Keegan ruled out any paramilitary involvement by any of those killed and described them as “entirely innocent of any wrongdoing”. Anne
daughter of John Mckerr, said she was “stunned” by what went on in the army her father was proud of.
He was a former soldier in the British army who lost his hand in the Second World War.
Ms Ferguson added her family entered into the process because her father’s name was being tarnished as a gunman.
She said: “We had the verdict today that he was innocent and that’s what we set out to achieve.
“I can only thank everyone here in all of these families that supported us through this, that guided us.”
The son of one of the Ballymurphy victims read out the names of the 10 dead at a press conference in Corpus Christi Youth Club in Belfast, pausing to say “Innocent” after every name.
Mr Teggart said: “We the Ballymurphy families welcome today’s historic verdict.
“Mrs Justice Keegan declared that unjustified force was used in the killing our loved ones. After 50 years they have finally had their names cleared.
“During the inquest we had to sit through 100 days of evidence, each day we relived the horror of what happened to our loved ones. It was awful.
“What gave us strength was the knowledge that every day was another blow to the MOD and the web of lies.”
Patrick Doherty said he felt a sense of relief after the coroner ruled the use of force in the shooting of his father Eddie was disproportionate.
He added: “It is a weight off my shoulferguson, ders, it’s been 50 years of serious hard grief and pain, I just feel serious relief. “I wish my mother could have been here to see it.
“My mother died six years after my father and it is just relief.
“We have always known he was an innocent man, we have always known everyone was innocent and it took 50 years.
“My father was shot in the back and murdered. He wasn’t in the IRA.” Maura Mcgee, one of Joan Connolly’s daughters, said her family is absolutely delighted.
She spoke of the pain of having to conceal the circumstances of her mothof
er’s death for 50 years, due to the cloud of the unfounded allegation she was armed.
She said they often told people her mother had died in a car crash.
Mrs Mcgee added: “We always knew she was innocent but to have her declared innocent in the eyes of the public and the rest of the world, it’s something we didn’t expect would ever happen.”
Her sister Philomena Morrison said: “She was an innocent person and they took her from us and we lost out on having her all of those years.”
Mr O Muirigh said the findings are “another stain on the British Army and their role in the north of Ireland”.
He added: “But it is also a very memorable day for the families. It has been a very long journey.
“After 50 years we finally have an evidence-based investigation and I think it’s a tribute to their irrepressible spirit.”
Every day was a blow to the MOD and the web of lies
JOHN TEGGERT BELFAST YESTERDAY
THE inquests into the deaths of 10 people shot in Ballymurphy in 1971 concluded yesterday with Mrs Justice Keegan saying “all the deceased were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question”.
During the delivery of her findings over more than two hours, the families of those who died heard harrowing details of the shootings over three days on August 9,10 and 11.
The judge split the findings into five separate incidents in which 10 people were fatally wounded.
The conclusions, she added, came after more than 100 court days and thousands of pages of evidence, making it the longest-running inquest in Northern Ireland.
Mrs Justice Keegan did say, however, that her task was made more difficult by the fact a list of soldiers’ names linked to the ciphers they were given in earlier investigations was “not made available to me”, meaning the names of many soldiers involved remains unknown.
The “frailties of memory” also played a role, she added, as she compared recollections, as well as contemporary accounts, to establish which were more reliable.
INCIDENTS
The five incidents examined were listed as:
■ Incident one on August 9, 1971, on waste ground near Springfield Park which resulted in the deaths of Fr Hugh Mullan and Francis Quinn
■ Incident two on August 9 in an area known locally as the Manse on the Springfield Road which resulted in the deaths of Joan Connolly, Daniel Teggart, Noel Phillips and Joseph Murphy
■ Incident three on August 10 on the Whiterock Road which resulted in the death of Edward Doherty
■ Incident four on August 11 on the Whiterock Road which resulted in the deaths of Joseph Corr and John Laverty, and
■ Incident five on August 11 on Westrock Drive which resulted in the death of John Mckerr.
The judge found that Fr Mullan died “as a result of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen” and that Mr Quinn died “as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head”. Mrs Justice Keegan said Fr Mullan and Mr Quinn on the “balance of probabilities” were shot by the British Army, adding “these were innocent men”. As per the rest of her findings, she said it was difficult to establish who fired the fatal shots, due to documents linking ciphers to actual names not being available. The coroner accepted evidence there were IRA gunmen in the area, but was “not satisfied that there was a gunman in the vicinity of the deceased that would have justified shooting at them”.
She was “convinced” there were gunmen at Moyard flats and that shooting by the Army at gunmen in that location was justified, but the justification “did not extend to the shooting of the deceased”.
The coroner did say, though, gunmen in the area “clearly put civilians at risk of danger”.
The field where the pair were shot saw men running across it carrying children as they fled trouble in Springfield Park. Robert Clarke was one of those running, but he was shot which led to Fr Mullan coming to his aid carrying something white, possibly a handkerchief.
Regarding incident one, the coroner referred to evidence “suggesting” the UVF had gunmen in the area and “raising the possibility a UVF gunman could have been responsible for some of the deaths at Ballymurphy”.
She found, however, there was “no evidence of value to suggest that this was the case in relation to the death of Fr Mullan or Mr Quinn”.
There was no “cogent evidence to support a suggestion in the inquest materials that Mr Quinn was shot in Moyard Flats and not in the field”, the coroner added. Regarding Daniel Teggart, Joan Connolly, Noel Phillips and Joseph Murphy the use of force was “clearly disproportionate” and all four were “innocent people”, the coroner ruled.
She also made reference to the “triumphalist and abusive” behaviour of soldiers at the time of the deaths.
Mrs Justice Keegan referred to “graphic and disturbing” findings regarding Joan Connolly and the “basic inhumanity associated with leaving her in the field for so long” after she was shot.
The four were shot around 9pm in an area known locally as the Manse in the vicinity of the Henry Taggart Hall, where 2 Para B Company was based.
The coroner said on the day “there
may have been some sporadic gunfire and those in the hall would viably think they were under attack by the community”, but that the “four deceased were unarmed and were not acting in any way of threat”.
Standard issue British Army bullets were recovered from the bodies of the deceased. The inquest received evidence of UVF paramilitary activity in the area at the time, but “there was no evidence of any cogency or sufficiency that UVF gunmen caused the deaths in the Manse field”.
On the death of Edward Doherty, the judge said he was “an innocent man who posed no threat”. A soldier identified as M3 fired the bullet that killed him from an elevated position on a digger-type vehicle that he was using to try to clear a barricade positioned near the entrance to Brittons Parade.
The findings outlined how there had been an explosion at the barricade and that a number of petrol bombs, possible two or three, were thrown towards the digger but that Mr Doherty had nothing to do with these incidents. M3 opened fire with a Sterling submachine gun hitting Mr Doherty once. He “was not associated with any terrorist group” and “was an innocent victim,” the coroner ruled.
On John Laverty and Joseph Corr, the judge said it was “wrong to describe these men as gunmen”, adding “that should be dispelled”. Mrs Justice Keegan found both men were shot in the back when either “crouching, crawling or prone”.
There was no evidence they were armed “or acting in a manner that could be perceived as posing a threat”. John Mckerr, she said, was “an entirely innocent man”.
His death, she added, had been subject to “abject failings” in that it was “shocking there was no real investigation at the time”.
Mr Mckerr was a “proud military man” with “no association with the IRA”.
The hearing heard evidence regarding IRA members being in the area at the time and the Army were justified in returning fire if fired upon.
However, she added there was a “clearly disproportionate” use of force in many instances covered by the inquest.
..shocking that there was no real investigation at the time JUDGE ON DEATH OF JOHN MCKERR