Another legal nightmare for Ulster veterans
New Bloody Sunday review looms as Paras ‘cleared’
MINISTERS were last night urged to block the ‘endless pursuit’ of Northern Ireland veterans after 15 soldiers were told they would not be prosecuted over possible Bloody Sunday murder charges.
Immediately after the decision was announced yesterday, families for those killed during the 1972 Troubles flashpoint said they would seek a judicial review.
This could take ‘several years’, with former paratroopers now in their 60s and 70s who served in Northern Ireland last night warning the ‘shadow’ of Bloody Sunday would ‘follow them to their grave’.
Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded when members of the British Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry in January 1972.
Soldiers maintain that they came under IRA gunfire before retaliating, but the Saville Inquiry, set up as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, found that those killed did not pose a threat.
Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) last year said one paratrooper, known as Soldier F and now in his 70s, would be charged with the murder of James Wray and William McKinney and five counts of attempted murder. He is currently awaiting trial.
Families of civilians killed during Bloody Sunday launched a review of the decision, claiming at least ten other soldiers should face criminal charges.
But having conducted a review of each potential case, PPS Senior Assistant Director Marianne O’Kane yesterday concluded there was not enough evidence to ‘provide a reasonable prospect of conviction’ of any others.
Ciaran Shiels, a solicitor representing some of the families, told a press conference yesterday they were left with ‘no alternative’ but to seek a judicial review at the High Court in Belfast. One former paratrooper hit out at veterans minister Johnny Mercer, who has vowed to end the ‘hounding’ of troops.
‘Mr Mercer loves going on television saying how he will stop the prosecution of veterans, but I don’t see any results,’ he said.
The Mail has long campaigned for an end to the witch-hunt against troops.
Philip Barden, a lawyer who represents seven of the paratroopers who were facing possible charges, last night called on the Government to intervene.
‘Unless the Government brings forward legislation to stop the endless pursuit of Northern Ireland veterans, this is not the end of the road.
‘There were mistakes made by all sides and a line in the sand needs to be drawn,’ he said. John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed on Bloody Sunday, said: ‘It’s been a long road, up to nearly 50 years, we’re all getting old, a lot of people are dying but as long as we’re able to walk, we’ll go after them and we certainly will not stop until we see justice for our loved ones.’
Ireland Taoiseach Michael Martin expressed his ‘deep disappointment’ at the news.
Miss O’Kane, who did not take part in last year’s decision to only bring charges against one soldier, said yesterday: ‘I know that today’s outcome will cause further upset to those who have pursued a long and determined journey for justice over almost five decades.
‘I can only offer reassurance... that my decisions were conducted wholly independently and impartially.’