Government to challenge Clonoe inquest ruling, MP says

The government is set to challenge an inquest ruling which said Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were not justified in opening fire and killing a gang of IRA men in Clonoe, an MP has said.

The Conservative MP James Cartlidge shared correspondence between himself and the Minister for Veterans who informed him that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a "pre-action protocol letter to the coroner".

The letter "sets out the legal basis upon which we will ground our judicial review application," Alistair Carns MP added.

The minister said he has also agreed to the department funding the veterans' judicial review of the findings, which is expected to run adjacent to the MoD's application.

The challenge has been welcomed by the TUV leader and MP Jim Allister who described the inquest's findings as "perverse".

Sinn Féin MP Cathal Mallaghan described the move as "deeply concerning" and "disgraceful".

"The coroner came to his findings in this case based on the facts. He rightly sent a file to the Public Prosecution Service to take the matter forward," the Mid Ulster MP said.

"It is essential that our judicial processes are free to carry out their duties independently, free from state interference."

Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy, and Patrick Vincent died in February 1992, after carrying out a gun attack on Coalisland police station.

The four armed IRA men were killed about 20 minutes after firing 60 shots – no-one was injured in the attack.

The soldiers opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick's Church car park in a hijacked lorry which had a heavy machine gun welded to its tailgate.

Security forces had intelligence the car park would be used and 12 soldiers were in position behind a hedgerow.

In statements at the time, the soldiers stated the use of lethal force was justified to protect their lives and those of their colleagues from the danger the IRA unit presented.

However, in February, coroner Mr Justice Michael Humphreys found the use of lethal force cannot have been reasonable.

He said there was no attempt to arrest the four IRA men, even as they lay wounded.

Mr Justice Humphreys said the experienced soldiers lying in wait at the church would have known the men would need to dismount the machine gun and in that scenario the ability to arrest them would have improved.

The inquest findings generated political controversy and faced criticism from unionist and Conservative elected representatives.

Last month, coroner Mr Justice Humphreys told Belfast's Royal Courts of Justice that he would refer the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Herron to review.

The coroner has the power to refer a case to the DPP if it appears to them that the circumstances of the death disclose that an offence may have been committed.

When a referral is received from the coroner, consideration will first be given to any further investigative steps that may be required before decisions as to prosecution can be taken.

Further criminal investigation of the case can only be undertaken by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The Ministry of Defence has been asked for comment.