Ballymurphy: Former paratrooper denies discovering casualties

The inquest is examining the deaths of 10 people in Ballymurphy in 1971

A former paratrooper has denied being part of a group which discovered casualties who had been fatally shot outside an Army base in 1971.

The soldier, known as M113, was giving evidence to the Ballymurphy inquest sitting in Belfast.

He served in the Army for 35 years and left with the rank of major, but was a lance corporal in August 1971.

Four people were fatally shot opposite the Vere Foster and Henry Taggart base on 9 August 1971.

They were Joan Connolly, Noel Phillips, Joseph Murphy and Daniel Teggart.

• Ballymurphy: Who were the victims?

'No recollection'

Previously another solider, M282, described going on foot in the darkness to locate the casualties, adding that M113 came with him and found two or three of them.

He described the two of them making a hole in a fence and crawling across the road in the darkness.

Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment were based at Henry Taggart Army base in west Belfast

But M113 told the court he could not remember this incident, saying he had "no recollection of that at all" and thought M282 "must have made a mistake".

M113 explained he had been blown up in a bombing incident the previous month and was suffering from regular migraines at the time, which would put him out of action for several hours.

He said it was possible he had been suffering from one on the day of the events he cannot remember.

He said he had no memory of the torture of a suspect brought to the Henry Taggart Hall after the bombing incident.

He also added he had no memory of the torture and abuse of suspects in the hall on 9 August 1971, when the four people were shot.

'Wrong decision'

Earlier, another former paratrooper denied being reluctant to assist the inquest.

M95 was a paratrooper from 1967 until 1991, and was also a member of B Coy 2 Para based at the Henry Taggart Hall.

Several soldiers have testified their base was fired upon and they returned fire on many occasions.

Although M95 agreed he would have been there, he said he could not remember his colleagues returning fire.

He added he had never fired his own weapon during 10 tours of Northern Ireland.

He told the court he was not hiding anything and was ready to assist the coroner.

A barrister for the family of Joan Connolly asked him: "It's not that you saw what happened in the Henry Taggart Hall and are not prepared to tell the coroner what you and your colleagues did?"

"No, not at all," replied the former soldier.

M95 did admit to being reluctant to speak to the Historical Enquiries Team back in 2010, and said it was because he simply had not understood who or what the team was.

"That was the decision I made," he told the court.

"It was the wrong decision, probably," he added.

Showered with glass

Earlier a former major in 2 Para was asked about British Army paperwork following the death of Edward Doherty.

It centred on routine forms used when a soldier was injured for any reason in any context.

The witness is known in the inquest as soldier M748 and was an operations officer at the time.

Mr Doherty, 31, was shot dead by soldier M3 on the Whiterock Road near a barricade on 10 August 1971.

Soldier M3 had been driving a military tractor and had been attempting to clear the barricade.

He was later taken to hospital with injuries to his head and eye after a missile struck his vehicle and showered him with pieces of glass.

At the time he said he had seen a gunman on waste ground who had fired at him.

Soldier M748 was the officer who signed the routine form explaining how soldier M3 had been wounded.

It was explained to M748 in court that M3 had since changed his story about what happened.

He said it was the first time he had become aware some of the details presented to him in 1971 were incorrect.

M748 told the court he had only the vaguest memories of the incident in which M3 was hurt, and certainly had not been aware a civilian had also died.