The shooting of four IRA men by SAS soldiers in County Tyrone in 1992 has been ruled as unjustifiable by an inquest. Kevin Barry O’Donnell, Sean O’Farrell, Peter Clancy, and Patrick Vincent lost their lives when they carried out a gun attack on Coalisland police station and were subsequently ambushed. The soldiers reportedly shot at the IRA unit as they entered St Patrick’s Church car park, firing over 500 rounds without warning. While initially the soldiers claimed that their use of lethal force was justified as they were in danger, the coroner Michael Humphries has since ruled that the state made “falsehoods” about the incident.
According to Mr. Justice Humphries, the soldiers had no intention of arresting the four IRA men, even though they were wounded. The state misled the public and misrepresented the incident as being a gun battle even though there was no evidence of the IRA unit firing on the soldiers. It has also emerged that a Ministry of Defence document referred to the operation as “an excellent security forces success.”
The families of those who died have since expressed their satisfaction at the ruling, having campaigned for almost 30 years for the truth about the incident to emerge. The inquest, which began in 2018, has sought to challenge the Ministry of Defence’s rendition of events, and this ruling will represent a long-awaited victory for those involved.
Historically, suspicions have been widespread that the British government sought to undermine investigations into British violent activities during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This case, coupled with various other unresolved investigations, may represent a turning point in securing justice for those who were affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland
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