Law chief acted for McGuinness and Adams
DPP represented Sinn Fein leaders and brokered deal for effective amnesty with fugitive IRA suspects
THE lawyer behind the decision to prosecute two British soldiers for the murder of an IRA commander previously represented senior Sinn Fein figures and its terrorist wing when in private practice.
Barra McGrory’s clients included Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams and he was also involved in securing controversial so-called “comfort letters” that offered assurances to IRA suspects on the run.
Mr McGrory was instrumental in the deal that ensured an effective amnesty for hundreds of IRA suspects, including John Downey, the alleged Hyde Park bomber.
The trial against Downey collapsed after the “comfort letter”, brokered by Mr McGrory in 2007, was produced at his trial in 2014.
Mr McGrory was Mr McGuinness’s solicitor during the Bloody Sunday inquiry, when it was falsely claimed that the Northern Irish Deputy First Minister was the IRA gunman who had caused the slaughter of innocent protesters by British troops.
Mr McGrory was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Northern Ireland in 2011, putting him in charge of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS). In that time, he has “recused” himself from at least six cases because of a potential conflict of interest.
In a statement yesterday, Mr McGrory’s office insisted the decision to prosecute Soldiers A and C had not been taken by the DPP alone.
A spokesman said: “The decision [to prosecute] was reached following an objective and impartial application of the Test for Prosecution that was conducted in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors and with the benefit of advice from senior counsel.” Last week, MPs in Westminster questioned Mr McGrory’s impartiality in a debate on the pursuit of British troops for historic offences in Northern Ireland.
Following the decision to charge another British veteran for attempted murder, Sir Henry Bellingham, a Conservative MP who has criticised the “hounding” of troops, told fellow MPs: “There is no new evidence, but what has changed is that the DPP in Northern Ireland is now Barra McGrory, QC – the same person who represented Martin McGuinness in the Saville inquiry. This is the person who is prepared to move away from credible evidence to political decision-making, which I find very worrying.
“It has to be stopped. There are potentially 278 more cases involving the security forces. I do not want any more veterans to be dragged out of their retirement homes any more than I want Sinn Fein councillors to be dragged out of council chambers.”
Richard Kemp, a retired colonel, told The Daily Telegraph: “These soldiers were cleared at the time. They are now being dredged up 40 years on by a DPP who I fear may be blatantly biased.”