Ballymurphy Inquest: Final witnesses testify

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

The final few scheduled witnesses have testified at the Ballymurphy Inquest.

The inquest began almost 16 months ago and is examining the deaths of 10 people in and around the Ballymurphy area of Belfast in August 1971.

This was immediately after the introduction of internment in NI.

One former soldier told the inquest an old photograph of him beside former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw proved he was telling the truth.

M34 said the photo showed him holding a .303 sniper rifle while standing beside Mr Whitelaw in 1972.

M34 was a Corporal in 2 Para Support Company.

He said it proved he did not have a sniper rifle the year of the killings because he was only issued with it for one tour of Northern Ireland.

• Ballymurphy: Who were the victims?

A soldier present during the killings, known as Soldier T, stated he had fired such a weapon in a statement made a few months later.

M34 was asked if he was lying, was challenged that he was indeed Soldier T and he had fired his weapon in the area.

M34 denied that.

Fr Hugh Mullan and Frank Quinn were shot behind Springfield Park

He insisted that over nine or 10 tours in Northern Ireland, he had never seen a fellow Para fire his weapon and cause the death of another.

A barrister for the Ministry of Defence pointed out no other soldier had said M34 was Soldier T.

The latest witnesses have been called to assist with the investigation into the deaths of Father Hugh Mullan and Frank Quinn on 9 August that year.

Soldier H

Later, a former 2nd Lieutenant in 2 Queens gave evidence under the cipher M71.

He had been present in Springmartin immediately after the shootings and had taken up a position in the Springmartin flats.

He told the court there was a "strong possibility" he was "Soldier H" who made a statement shortly after the shootings.

In that statement the soldier describes taking over from six Parachute Regiment soldiers in the flats overlooking the area where two men died, and noticing about 10 empty cartridges of SLR ammunition on the floor.

M71 told the court he might have made the Soldier H statement but did not remember the part about meeting the paras or seeing the cartridges.

'Quite a firefight'

Then Soldier M2312, a lieutenant who was second in command in the same company, explained he had been present and his position at the flats had come under sporadic fire throughout a night he was there.

He recalled at one point leaving his Land Rover and taking cover in a ditch, only to be surprised when a 12-year-old boy also taking cover asked him about his pistol.

He clearly remembered seeing empty cartridge cases from Army SLR rifles and sub-machine guns or pistols in Springmartin flats.

He said he thought "someone has had quite a firefight".

The next morning, both he and M71 had noticed wooden crosses or black flags in the waste ground where Fr Mullan and Mr Quinn had died.

100 days

Coroner Mrs Justice Keegan has said she expects the oral hearings are now completed.

The Ballymurphy Inquest began in November 2018.

The court has heard almost 100 days of evidence from more than 100 witnesses, including more than 60 former soldiers, more than 30 civilians, and experts in ballistics, pathology and civil engineering.

The most senior former soldier to testify was Gen Sir Mike Jackson, the former head of the British Army and Chief of the General Staff.

Mrs Justice Keegan said she expected to present her findings "in the coming months".