IRA man ‘part of Hyde Park attack’
THE families of the Hyde Park bombing victims have urged the Government to meet them after a High Court judge ruled that John Downey was involved in the IRA attack.
Relatives of the four Household Cavalrymen who died in the July 1982 blast launched legal action against the convicted IRA member after a criminal case collapsed at the Old Bailey in 2014.
Lawyers representing Sarahjane Young, whose father, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young, was one of those killed and who brought the civil case against Downey, said justice had finally prevailed.
Her solicitor, Matthew Jury, said in a statement after the ruling yesterday that the victims’ relatives invite the Government to meet them to “ensure it never fails them or other victims or veterans again”.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Mr Jury said: “Sarahjane 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.
“Sarahjane, and the families here today, were told they’d never get justice, that they should put the past behind them and move on. They, and thousands whose lives were devastated by the IRA, are the forgotten victims.”
Mrs Justice Yip ruled that Downey was an “active participant” in the bombing and was jointly responsible with other IRA members for the attack, in which 31 other people were injured.
Announcing her conclusions, the judge said: “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.”
L/Cpl Young was 19 when he was killed, along with Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Roy Bright, 36, Lieutenant Dennis Daly, 23, and Trooper Simon Tipper, also 19, as they rode through the London park from their barracks to attend Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Ms Young, who has suffered psychiatric harm as a result of the bombing that killed her father, was just four years old at the time and in nursery at the barracks when she saw wounded soldiers returning.
Downey, from Co Donegal, did not play any part in the trial but filed a written defence denying any involvement.
Downey is currently in prison in Northern Ireland, facing a criminal prosecution for a car bomb attack which killed Ulster Defence Regiment members Alfred Johnston and James Eames in Enniskillen in 1972.
No date was set for the second stage of the case, which will determine the amount of damages to be awarded.