Top Issue 1-2024

29 August 2014

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Top RUC commander gave order that killed Nora McCabe returning from shops


THE order to fire the plastic bullet that killed west Belfast mother Nora McCabe in the hours after the death of Hunger Striker Joe McDonell on 8 July 1981 was given by RUC Chief Superintendent Jimmy Crutchley.

Nora McCabe

Secret state papers from 1985 made public today reveal that the high-ranking RUC officer gave the order to fire on Nora McCabe (pictured) as she returned from the shops.

While it was common knowledge that Crutchley, the most senior RUC officer in west Belfast, was in the patrol responsible for the shooting, it has only now been confirmed that he ordered the use of the lethal weapon.

This information was in a report given to then British Secretary of State Douglas Hurd in 1984.

These revelations expose the litany of attempts, by the authorities in the North to cover up the killing of the mother of three.

Initially the RUC denied that any of its patrols were near Linden Street, off the Falls Road, at the time of the killing.

They then claimed that one of its patrols fired plastic bullets at rioters who had set up barricades.

But a Canadian TV documentary crew, which was filming at the time, handed over footage to the inquest (reconvened in 1983) that exposed the RUC version of events.

There were no signs of rioters, barricades or hijacked vehicles. The road was clear.

Most significantly, the last couple of minutes focused in on two RUC armoured vehicles travelling along the Falls Road. As they approached the junction of Linden Street and the Falls Road, both vehicles slowed down. The lead vehicle surged to the right and across to the opposite side of the road, towards Linden Street, then abruptly stopped.

A loud bang was heard. A puff of smoke was clearly visible from the right porthole of the RUC vehicle. It sped off, followed by the second vehicle.

This was the moment Nora McCabe was fatally wounded.

Despite this video evidence and the testimony of eyewitnesses to the shooting, the North’s Director of Public Prosecutions claimed “no prosecution was warranted”.

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