A coroner who ruled that SAS soldiers were not justified in killing four IRA members in a 1992 ambush in Clonoe, Co Tyrone, is to refer his findings to Northern Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mr Justice Michael Humphreys said he was obliged by law to send a report to the DPP if an inquest he is presiding over discloses evidence that indicates a criminal offence may have been committed.
It comes after unionists expressed anger over the findings and warned it could open the door for prosecutions and just hours after ex-British military chiefs called for a judicial review.
Mr Justice Humphreys, who is Northern Ireland’s presiding coroner, delivered his findings earlier this month and found that the SAS soldiers did not have an honest belief in the necessity of using lethal force and that such force was unjustified and not reasonable.
The East Tyrone IRA, Loughgall, Clonoe, and the SAS
At a further hearing on Thursday morning at Belfast’s Royal Courts of Justice, the coroner confirmed that he would now refer the case to DPP Stephen Herron to review it. He said he had no discretion in the matter and was required to send the referral under the Justice Northern Ireland Act, 2002.
“Accordingly, as I read the statutory obligation that’s imposed upon me, I am obliged to send a written report of my findings in this inquest to the Director of Public Prosecutions and I will do so as soon as that is practicable,” Mr Humphreys said.
Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, 23, Peter Clancy, 19, and Daniel Vincent, 20 – were shot dead by the soldiers minutes after they had carried out a gun attack on Coalisland RUC station in February 1992.
The men were all members of the IRA’s east Tyrone brigade and were killed in the grounds of St Patrick’s Church near Clonoe.
Soldiers fired more than 500 rounds as the gang dumped a hijacked lorry used in the machine gun attack.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson previously said the inquest finding “beggars belief”
UUP MLA Doug Beattie branded it “ludicrous to say that the shooting of four heavily armed terrorists” was unjustified.
One of the cars shot at during the Clonoe ambush
Under Northern Ireland’s current legal framework for dealing with legacy cases related to the Troubles, criminal investigations can only be undertaken by the recently established Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
The SAS soldiers opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick’s Church car park in Clonoe in a stolen lorry they had used in the police station attack.
In his findings, Mr Justice Humphreys, who is also a High Court judge, said the use of force in the ambush was not justified and the soldiers did not have an honest belief it was necessary in order to prevent loss of life.
In statements made by the soldiers at the time, they claimed the use of lethal force was justified to protect their lives and others from the IRA unit.
However, Mr Justice Humphreys said the use of force by the soldiers was, in the circumstances they believed them to be, “not reasonable”.
He said no attempt was made by the soldiers to arrest any of the members of the IRA unit, even as they lay seriously injured and incapacitated either on the ground or in the cab of the lorry.
The coroner was also critical of the operation, saying it was not planned and controlled in a way to minimise to the “greatest extent possible” the need to use lethal force.
He rejected the soldiers’ claims the IRA members opened fire in the car park, saying they were “demonstrably untrue”.
Family members of the four men killed by the SAS in Clonoe in 1992 leave Belfast Hugh Court this morning. Image: Pacemaker
Outside court on Thursday, solicitor Niall Murphy, who represents some of the bereaved relatives in the case, said the inquest findings were based on evidence that was “overwhelmingly conclusive”.
Commenting on the referral to the DPP, he said: “Well, it’s a rule of law issue, and the families would hope and trust that the rule of law will be observed.
“The evidence that we all heard over the months of hearings was overwhelmingly conclusive.
“The state of evidence, therefore, for the consideration of the Public Prosecution Service is complete, and we would hope and trust that the PPS will come to its decisions as soon as possible.”
In a letter sent to the Daily Telegraph and signed by Gen Lord Houghton, Gen Lord Dannatt and Adm Lord West said the findings contradicted “natural justice” and risked the prosecution of “elderly retired soldiers”.
“This will ruin the lives of patriotic soldiers and allow the IRA to rewrite the history of the Troubles to its own advantage,” they wrote.
Gen Tim Collins and Tory MP Sir David Davis signed the letter along with former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace, .
“The military is there to defend our nation and uphold our laws,” they said.
“Surely the nation should in turn protect the soldiers, the rule of law, and the truth. That is real justice.”
In the ruling, Mr Justice Humphreys rejected claims made by two soldiers – who now aged in their 50s – that they held the “honest belief” that lethal force was necessary.
However the former military figures insisted the the objective of the men killed in the ambush “was murder”.
“Fortunately it failed, but no thanks to the terrorists’ activities that day,” the letter continues.
“Our soldiers, on the other hand, were acting under orders, orders governed by strict legal guidelines, and they carried out those orders under extremely dangerous circumstances.
“Attempting to reimagine decisions taken virtually instantaneously in the chaos and pitch darkness of that night from the comfort of a courtroom 33 years later is unlikely to deliver justice.
“What it may do however is put elderly retired soldiers through the enormous stress of potentially being prosecuted in their twilight years.”
The concerns outlined by Gen Lord Houghton who was chief of the defence staff between 2013 and 2016; Gen Lord Dannatt who was chief of the general staff from 2006 until 2009 and Adm Lord West who was First Sea Lord between 2002 and 2006 come as Labour is in the process of repealing the Legacy Act.
The law brought in by the previous Conservative government offered conditional immunity from prosecution for soldiers and paramilitaries.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn said the approach taken by the last Government “was wrong” as he began steps to scrap the legislation.
“It was rejected by the Northern Ireland political parties, victims groups, the Irish Government and opposed by the Labour Party when we were in Opposition,” he told the House of Commons in December.
“And aspects of the Legacy Act have now been found by the Courts to be incompatible with our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
“This must be remedied and the Government is committed to repeal and replace the legislation, as set out in our manifesto.”