1992 shooting of IRA men was ‘unjustified’ says inquest

The use of lethal force by SAS soldiers was unjustified when they opened fire killing four IRA men in an ambush at Clonoe in County Tyrone, an inquest has ruled.

Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, 22, Peter Clancy, 21, and Patrick Vincent, 20, died in February 1992, minutes after they had carried out a gun attack on Coalisland police station.

The soldiers opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick’s Church car park in a hijacked lorry which had a heavy machine gun welded to its tailgate.

Security forces had intelligence the car park would be used and 12 soldiers were in position behind a hedgerow.

The four armed IRA men were killed about 20 minutes after firing 60 shots at Coalisland police station – no-one was injured in the attack.

SAS soldiers opened fire without warning when the lorry drove in – firing more than 500 rounds.

In statements at the time, the soldiers stated the use of lethal force was justified to protect their lives and those of their colleagues from the danger the IRA unit presented.

However, coroner Mr Justice Michael Humphreys found the use of lethal force cannot have been reasonable.

He said there was no attempt to arrest the four IRA men, even as they lay wounded.

Mr Justice Humphreys said the experienced soldiers lying in wait at the church would have known the men would need to dismount the machine gun and in that scenario the ability to arrest them would have improved.

The coroner said the operation “was not planned and controlled in such a way as to minimise to the greatest extent possible the need for recourse to lethal force”.

However, he said the soldiers chose not to wait but to stand up and begin shooting.

Two of those killed, Mr O’Donnell and Mr O’Farrell, were shot in the back while running away and had bullets fired into their faces as they lay on the ground.

“No attempt was made by the soldiers to arrest any members of the PIRA unit, even as they lay seriously injured and incapacitated either on the ground or in the lorry,” the judge stated.

“The soldiers did not have an honest and genuinely held belief that the use of force was necessary to defend themselves or others.”

Mr Justice Humphreys added that state agencies had “perpetuated falsehoods” about the incident, having claimed at the time there had been a gun battle.

In fact, the IRA men had not fired on the soldiers.

He referred to a Ministry of Defence document which had mentioned the operation as “an excellent security forces success”.

After the ruling, Patrick Vincent’s sister Marian said: “It has been the entirety of my life that this process has been ongoing.

“It’s hard to say you’re delighted at a finding over your family member’s death.

“We’re overwhelmed and we’re delighted with the result, but we’re also very aware at a huge expense to us, as families.”

Solicitor Niall Murphy said: “Anyone who sat through those months of hearings, the inescapable conclusion, the only conclusion is the verdict the judge has found today.

“Whereas truth has been excavated and published today, justice has not.

“We’re going to carefully consider this verdict with regards to any prospect of prosecutions.”

Reacting to the judgement, TUV MP Jim Allister said: “When four fully armed terrorists go out on a murder mission, that mission includes their escape plan.

“If the continuing threat posed by such fully armed would be murderers is neutralised, then that is a service to the public to whom they are a danger.”

He added the judgement is “another illustration of the coronial system” of putting the security forces “in the dock”.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s justice spokesperson Doug Beattie has said the outcome of the inquiry was “ludicrous”.

“Instead of dead police officers, civilians and lawful military personnel, four PIRA terrorists were killed,” he said in a statement.

“It is ludicrous to say that the shooting was unjustified”.