Coroner asks MoD to hand over SAS ambush details
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A coroner has asked the Ministry of Defence to hand over details about the activities of soldiers near the scene of an SAS ambush in which two IRA men were shot dead.
Yesterday it was revealed that an inquest into the deaths of Martin McCaughey and Desmond Grew, who were gunned down near Loughgall in 1990, would get under way next September.
The inquest, which is expected to last between four and six weeks, will be heard at Armagh courthouse.
Some 24 potential witnesses have already been identified — in addition to three men who were formally interviewed at the time of the killings.
However, Mr McCaughey’s brother Peter has said he is sceptical about the prospects of an inquest finally beginning.
“After almost 20 years it is something that we have got an actual date, but our family will believe it only when we see the inquest start,” he said.
During the hearing coroner Brian Sherrard said that six bundles of documents he had received contained no details of any Army operations in the area around the time of the ambush.
He said the details would be “key issues” during the inquest and asked the MoD to conduct a further search for relevant documents.
Speaking last night, Peter McCaughey said he was frustrated by the MoD’s slow progress on handing over material.
“You wonder what we have to do to get a fair, open and transparent inquest where all the aspects of the shooting can come out,” he added.
Mr McCaughey, from Galbally, and Mr Grew, of Main Street in Charlemont, were shot dead at Lislasley near Loughgall on October 9, 1990, raising fresh allegations of a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy.
Source: The Belfast Telegraph