Judges have thrown out a “ludicrous” judicial review into the use of lethal force by the SAS against an IRA terrorist, which has been described as a waste of taxpayers’ money.
They found a coroner was legally entitled to find Soldier B, a special forces trooper, justified in shooting an unarmed IRA driver as part of a collective terrorist threat to life, Belfast Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday.
The veteran had been part of an SAS team that intercepted and killed the IRA’s Peter Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally, who had been tasked with killing an off-duty member of the security forces in Coagh, County Tyrone in June 1991.
British forces fired up to 150 bullets at the men who were travelling in a stolen car, which burst into flames after being hit, burning them beyond recognition.
It is the third time Soldier B, now in his 60s, has effectively had his name cleared over the incident following more than four years of court hearings.
A coroner previously ruled Soldier B and his comrades were justified in their use of lethal force, saying the killings had been “reasonable and proportionate”.
However, Roisin Nugent, the daughter of Doris, challenged the decision, arguing that Soldier B should have paused after every shot to determine whether continuing to fire was necessary. Doris, the driver, was shot in the head and killed.
Tony Doris was the the driver of the car ambushed by British forces in the village of Coagh, Co Tyrone, in 1991
However, a judge threw out that initial judicial review application last October, branding it “utterly divorced from reality” and “ludicrous”.
Ms Nugent, whose cousin is Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, subsequently launched a fresh appeal using taxpayer-funded legal aid.
Dismissing the latest case, the judges said: “To us, the challenge really amounted to a disagreement with the coroner’s findings. That is not the purpose of judicial review in this area or an effective use of public funds even when Article 2 (the right to life) is engaged.”
Sir David Davis, a Tory MP and former SAS reservist, welcomed the move to dismiss the “absurd appeal”.
“This is the right decision but has taken far too long and inflicted far too much stress on Soldier B and his family,” he told The Telegraph, adding it was “always evident” Soldier B had “acted lawfully”.
“The fact that legal aid has been used again to drag Soldier B before the courts is beyond parody,” Sir David said.
The court previously heard Soldier B had a “split second to take action to stop what he honestly believed to be a PIRA (Provisional IRA) active service unit (ASU) from committing murder and in that split-second he made the decision to fire upon the driver”.
The special forces detachment was deployed to try and arrest the group of men travelling in a stolen car. One member of the SAS team, Soldier L, put his life at risk by impersonating the target the hit squad was believed to be after. The rest of the unit was hidden in the back of a lorry armed with assault rifles.
Lawrence McNally and Peter Ryan were on their way to assassinate a target 35 years ago when they were intercepted by the SAS
When the three IRA men arrived, one of them aimed an AK-47 rifle towards Soldier L, who took cover as the rest of the SAS troopers opened fire, killing the terrorists.
Coroner Mr Justice Michael Humphreys previously said the trio were members of the East Tyrone Brigade of the IRA and were on “active service” when they were shot. He said he was satisfied the actions by the SAS had been taken lawfully.
The court said in its judgment on Thursday the “appellant’s arguments all fall away” under analysis, as it supported the coroner’s original verdict. “The undeniable reality of this case is that the coroner was entirely justified in finding that Soldier B had an honest and genuine belief that L’s life was in danger. That is amply validated by the evidence,” it ruled.
It added: “Mr Doris was part of the threat to life in this fast-moving situation. In our view, it would be absurd to disaggregate the driver from the other men in this case, all active members of the PIRA, part of an ASU plan to murder which clearly involved an imminent threat to life which Soldier B sought to protect.”
Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden previously said the “challenge fails to get off the ground”, during an earlier judgment in October last year. “I cannot conclude this judgment without expressing my surprise that legal aid funding was made available to mount such a challenge,” he added.
The latest decision comes as retired military chiefs and special forces commanders continue a battle against Labour’s Troubles Bill, which they fear will open the door to more veterans being hauled through the courts in vexatious “show trials”.
Veterans ‘facing years of unnecessary distress’
Sir Keir Starmer is pushing ahead with the legislation, which scraps plans to implement the Conservatives’ former Legacy Act. It would have granted British troops who served in the Troubles immunity from civil and criminal legal hearings.
Reacting to Thursday’s decision, Gen Sir Peter Wall, a former head of the Army, and Gen Sir Nick Parker, the last British commander in Northern Ireland, accused the Government of persecuting veterans of the Troubles.
“The process itself is being used as the punishment,” the military chiefs said. “Public money is being misused to fund meritless challenges, wasting precious judicial time and dragging veterans and their families through years of unnecessary distress.
“Unless the new Troubles Bill sets a clear legal threshold – no new cases without genuinely new evidence which did not exist at the time and is independently certified – and a definitive end point, this cycle will continue. If the Government cannot deliver that, the Bill should be dropped.”
Three regimental associations representing thousands of special forces personnel, from the SAS, Special Boat Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, said the latest appeal “exposes how attempts to deal with the legacy of the Troubles are being exploited at public expense to punish and persecute veterans and to peddle a false narrative”.
“The flawed Troubles Bill will make the situation worse,” the organisations said in a joint statement.
Alex Burghart MP, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, added: “It is time to stop endless legal challenges and build proper truth and reconciliation.”