Say sorry, Hyde Park bomb families tell Blair
Relatives of soldiers killed in 1982 atrocity demand apology after judge rules that Downey was bomber
THE families of soldiers killed in the Hyde Park bombing last night demanded a full apology from Tony Blair over a deal that forced them to pursue an IRA terrorist through the civil courts to finally obtain justice.
Relatives cried with joy and relief after a High Court judge yesterday declared John Downey to have been an “active participant” in one of the worst atrocities committed by the IRA on mainland Britain.
Four Household Cavalrymen died when they were targeted by the IRA as they rode through Hyde Park to attend the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace in July 1982. Thirty-one others were wounded and seven horses had to be put down because of their injuries.
Downey, 67, of Co Donegal, was charged with murder but a trial at the Old Bailey collapsed in 2014 after it emerged he had been sent a so-called “comfort letter” as part of a secret scheme operated by Mr Blair’s government. The letter, giving Downey an assurance he was not a suspect, prompted the trial judge to rule that his arrest at Gatwick Airport in 2013 was an abuse of process.
The collapse of the trial forced lawyers to bring a civil action on behalf of Sarah-jane Young, whose father, L/cpl Jeffrey Young, 19, was killed in the attack. Squadron Quartermaster Cpl Roy Bright, 36, Lt Anthony Daly, 23, and Trooper Simon Tipper, 19, also died.
Mark Tipper, 59, Simon’s brother, said outside the High Court yesterday: “We now know Downey is the Hyde Park bomber and the public knows he’s the Hyde Park bomber. He’s denied it before, but today, at the Royal Courts of Justice, he has been found guilty of being a terrorist and a murderer.”
He called on Mr Blair to apologise personally, saying: “Mr Blair has never apologised – maybe he doesn’t think he’s got to? He apologised for the pain that it caused to the families, but that was done over the TV. The man did not have the gall to come up to me, look me in the eye and say, ‘I’m sorry, Mr Tipper’.” A spokesman for Mr Blair said: “Mr Blair accepted responsibility for the letter being sent, though the letter was not seen or signed off by him, as was fully covered in Lady Hallett’s inquiry report into the on-the-run scheme. That inquiry also made clear that the scheme “did not give terrorist suspects an ‘amnesty’. Mr Blair has previously apologised for the error that the letter to Downey was sent and also to those who had suffered as a result.”
Ms Young’s mother, Judith Jenkins, 58, from Gilfach Goch in South Wales, said: “We never thought this day would happen. It’s finally brought some form of justice. We had our requests for legal aid turned down five times, so it’s been
‘I hope this sends a message to other families that you can get justice if you never stop fighting for it’
terribly hard to get to this. It’s been six years of hell.
“But I hope this sends a message to other families that you can get justice if you never stop fighting for it. Our whole lives were ripped apart.”
She added: “We have never had a ‘sorry’ from anyone for the mistake, from anyone in the Labour government. He [Downey] should never have had that letter.”
She said hearing her daughter, who was in nursery at the barracks at the time of the blast and saw wounded soldiers, screaming at night was “horrendous”. Ms Young, four at the time, suffered psychiatric harm as a result.
The family’s lawyer, Matt Jury, of Mccue & Partners, said: “Sarah-jane Young was made a victim three times over. The first time by the IRA and John Downey when they detonated the bomb that killed her father. The second when a ‘catastrophic failure’ by the British government led to Downey being issued an ‘on-the-run’ letter. The third when Downey’s criminal trial collapsed as a result.”
After a three-day civil trial – in which Downey refused to take part – Mrs Justice Yip said in her ruling: “This was a deliberate, carefully planned attack on members of the military. I have found that the defendant was an active participant in the concerted plan to detonate the bomb, with the intent to kill or at least to cause serious harm to members of the Household Cavalry.”
Downey has denied any involvement in the attack. He is currently being held at a prison in Northern Ireland facing charges of murdering two soldiers in an IRA bomb attack in Co Fermanagh in 1972.