Veterans cleared of IRA leader’s murder

TWO former paratroopers accused of the murder of an Official IRA leader have been formally acquitted, after prosecutors offered no further evidence at their trial.

The trial at Belfast Crown Court collapsed yesterday after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) confirmed it would not appeal against a decision by Mr Justice O’Hara to exclude statements given by the ex-soldiers about the shooting of Joe McCann in 1972.

It was the first trial in several years that involved charges against former military personnel who served in the Northern Ireland conflict. Four other cases involving the prosecution of veterans are at the pre-trial stage in the region’s courts.

Mr McCann, 24, was shot dead by paratroopers as he attempted to evade arrest by a plain-clothed police officer in the Markets Area of Belfast in April, 1972.

The trial opened last Monday and heard a full day of evidence. It then moved into a separate voir dire hearing to determine whether statements and interviews given by the ex-soldiers, who are now in their 70s, would be admissible as evidence.

Last Friday, Mr Justice O’Hara ruled that the soldiers’ evidence, given to military police in 1972 and to police in 2010, could not be admitted. With the PPS having conceded the material was the only evidence before the court that could be used to prove the soldiers fired at Mr McCann, its decision not to appeal against the judge’s ruling means the case could not proceed.

After the prosecution confirmed it would be giving no further evidence in the case, Mr Justice O’Hara told the defendants: “In the circumstances, Mr A and C, I formally find you not guilty of the charge of murder.” Moments later, the two accused walked free from the court.

After yesterday’s short hearing, lawyers for the soldiers demanded an “urgent independent review” of the PPS’s handling of the case.

Philip Barden, of Devonshires Solicitors, who represented Soldiers A and C, said the firm made legal submissions back in 2016 making clear that the evidence from their clients would not be admissible.

“This is a prosecution that should never have got off the ground,” he said. “Before initiating the prosecution, the PPS had all the relevant information to conclude that the evidence was clearly inadmissible. Despite this, the prosecution proceeded.” He called for an inquiry into the decision-making process.

The family of Joe McCann are to apply to the Attorney General to open an inquest into his killing.

Speaking outside court, Niall Murphy, solicitor for the family, said: “This ruling does not acquit the State of murder... This ruling does not mean that Joe McCann was not murdered by the British Army.

“He was shot in the back whilst unarmed, from a distance of 40 metres, posing no threat. It was easier to arrest him than to murder him.”

He added: “Today is not the end of the McCanns’ journey for justice. They will now apply to the current Attorney General to open the inquest at which Soldiers A and C will be compelled to appear and give evidence and be cross-examined.”

In his ruling, Mr Justice O’Hara said it was not legitimate to put the 1972 evidence before the court “dressed up and freshened up with a new 2010 cover”.