30 October 1997 Edition
Inquest collapses in chaos
By Laura Friel
The inquest into the SAS killing of INLA member Alex Patterson collapsed in confusion last week when the jury was sacked by the coroner.
31-year-old Patterson from Strabane was shot dead on 12 November 1990 in Victoria Bridge, County Tyrone. Sacking the jury, presiding Derry coroner Ronnie O'Doherty refused to disclose the contents of the jurors' ``unanimous'' decision. He claimed the jury had felt under pressure to reach a verdict. The coroner made his ruling after a three day inquest during which the jury heard evidence directly contradicting the British army's account of the death.
British soldier `G' claimed a man hanging out of the rear passenger window on the driver's side of the car in which Patterson was travelling continued to fire with an automatic weapon as the car sped away. But forensic evidence established the weapon jammed after firing six shots at the home of a UDR member.
British solider `D' in a written statement claimed he fired the fatal shot at ``a figure inside the car'' yet the spent case of the bullet was found nearly 100 yards away from where the soldier claimed the shot was fired.
Patterson's body was `found' across the driver's seat inside the car with the jammed weapon on the back seat, yet according to Gerry McGarrigle, a second INLA member currently serving a jail sentence for his involvement in the incident, both men escaped from the car.
Mary Carmel Corry, a local resident who heard the shooting, said she heard someone crying amid angry English voices prior to the last gunshot. Corry's evidence also suggests there was a significant time lapse between the first and final burst of gunfire. After the initial sound of gunfire, Mary Corry, crawling along the floor, switched off her kitchen light, locked the backdoor and telephoned the RUC. While she was speaking to the RUC she heard a second burst, possibly a single shot.
The British army admited Patterson was given no chance to surrender. They also admited no medical assistance was summoned after the shooting.
The inquest opened in Derry's Courthouse on Monday 20 October. Almost immediately the proceedings were thrown into controversay as the coroner accepted a Public Interest Immunity Certificate issued by British Defence Secretary George Robertson to hide the identity of the British soldiers involved in the killing. Baton-wielding RUC officers forcibly evicted over 20 people in the public gallery protesting against screens being erected within the court. Despite the screen, key witness, Soldier `D', who fired the fatal round, was not even in court. A written statement from Soldier `D' was read out by the RUC officer in charge of the investigation Detective Superintendent John Middlemass.
Legisation introduced by the British government in 1981 curtailed the remit of coroner's courts in the north of Ireland, outlawing ``verdicts'', which can apportion blame, and substituting ``findings'' which cannot. It was, and remains, a blatant attempt to block any investigation into killings carried out by British Crown forces, particularly investigation into the activities of covert assassination squads such as the British army's SAS and RUC's E4A. The abolition of verdicts and erosion of the court's investigative powers has led to numerous absurdities as in the case of three other Strabane men, Charles Breslin, Michael and David Devine, IRA Volunteers shot dead by the SAS in 1985. Following an inquest which lasted 17 days the jury could only deliver the ``finding'' that the three men died of gunshot wounds.
Clearly, in the case of Alex Patterson, the jury was not willing to rubber stamp the charade by restricting their deliberations to a facile ``finding''.The legal ramifications of the coroner's decision to dismiss the jury and his refusal to disclose the contents of their decision has yet to be examined. The dead man's family have instructed their lawyers to pursue the possibilty of a high court judical review. Speaking after the collapse of the inquest, Donna Patterson said despite the sacking and secret verdict she believed the hearing had established that her husband could have been arrested and had been ``summarily shot'' possibly as he pleaded for his life.
The inquest into the SAS killing of INLA member Alex Patterson collapsed in confusion last week when the jury was sacked by the coroner.
31-year-old Patterson from Strabane was shot dead on 12 November 1990 in Victoria Bridge, County Tyrone. Sacking the jury, presiding Derry coroner Ronnie O'Doherty refused to disclose the contents of the jurors' ``unanimous'' decision. He claimed the jury had felt under pressure to reach a verdict. The coroner made his ruling after a three day inquest during which the jury heard evidence directly contradicting the British army's account of the death.
British soldier `G' claimed a man hanging out of the rear passenger window on the driver's side of the car in which Patterson was travelling continued to fire with an automatic weapon as the car sped away. But forensic evidence established the weapon jammed after firing six shots at the home of a UDR member.
British solider `D' in a written statement claimed he fired the fatal shot at ``a figure inside the car'' yet the spent case of the bullet was found nearly 100 yards away from where the soldier claimed the shot was fired.
Patterson's body was `found' across the driver's seat inside the car with the jammed weapon on the back seat, yet according to Gerry McGarrigle, a second INLA member currently serving a jail sentence for his involvement in the incident, both men escaped from the car.
Mary Carmel Corry, a local resident who heard the shooting, said she heard someone crying amid angry English voices prior to the last gunshot. Corry's evidence also suggests there was a significant time lapse between the first and final burst of gunfire. After the initial sound of gunfire, Mary Corry, crawling along the floor, switched off her kitchen light, locked the backdoor and telephoned the RUC. While she was speaking to the RUC she heard a second burst, possibly a single shot.
The British army admited Patterson was given no chance to surrender. They also admited no medical assistance was summoned after the shooting.
The inquest opened in Derry's Courthouse on Monday 20 October. Almost immediately the proceedings were thrown into controversay as the coroner accepted a Public Interest Immunity Certificate issued by British Defence Secretary George Robertson to hide the identity of the British soldiers involved in the killing. Baton-wielding RUC officers forcibly evicted over 20 people in the public gallery protesting against screens being erected within the court. Despite the screen, key witness, Soldier `D', who fired the fatal round, was not even in court. A written statement from Soldier `D' was read out by the RUC officer in charge of the investigation Detective Superintendent John Middlemass.
Legisation introduced by the British government in 1981 curtailed the remit of coroner's courts in the north of Ireland, outlawing ``verdicts'', which can apportion blame, and substituting ``findings'' which cannot. It was, and remains, a blatant attempt to block any investigation into killings carried out by British Crown forces, particularly investigation into the activities of covert assassination squads such as the British army's SAS and RUC's E4A. The abolition of verdicts and erosion of the court's investigative powers has led to numerous absurdities as in the case of three other Strabane men, Charles Breslin, Michael and David Devine, IRA Volunteers shot dead by the SAS in 1985. Following an inquest which lasted 17 days the jury could only deliver the ``finding'' that the three men died of gunshot wounds.
Clearly, in the case of Alex Patterson, the jury was not willing to rubber stamp the charade by restricting their deliberations to a facile ``finding''.The legal ramifications of the coroner's decision to dismiss the jury and his refusal to disclose the contents of their decision has yet to be examined. The dead man's family have instructed their lawyers to pursue the possibilty of a high court judical review. Speaking after the collapse of the inquest, Donna Patterson said despite the sacking and secret verdict she believed the hearing had established that her husband could have been arrested and had been ``summarily shot'' possibly as he pleaded for his life.