Joe McCann: Soldiers' statements excluded from trial evidence

Joe McCann was shot near his home in the Markets area of Belfast in April 1972

Statements given by two soldiers after the fatal shooting of an IRA man are to be excluded from evidence in their trial, a judge has ruled.

Two former members of the Parachute Regiment - Soldiers A and C - are standing trial in Belfast on a charge of murdering Joe McCann in April 1972.

The 24-year old was fatally wounded after he was shot by paratroopers as he was evading arrest while unarmed.

Shortly afterwards Soldiers A and C both admitted firing shots at the man.

They were interviewed again by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) in 2010 in London.

Those interviews were the subject of a legal application by the defence, who argued that they were inadmissible and should be excluded as evidence.

'Ordered' to give statements

At Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice O'Hara conceded that the evidence should be excluded.

As this was the crux of the prosecution's case, the judge agreed to adjourn the hearing until next week to allow the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) time to consider whether it wanted to appeal the decision.

In his ruling, Mr Justice O'Hara said that when the soldiers gave their statements to the Royal Military Police in April 1972, they were "ordered" to do so, rather than volunteering to make them.

Other "striking" elements, the judge said, were that Soldiers A and C were not cautioned and had no access to independent legal advice.

Five months after the fatal shooting, Soldiers A and C were told no legal proceedings would be issued against them.

However, both men were charged with murder almost four decades later after a report compiled on Mr McCann's death by the HET.

Members of Joe McCann's family have been in court this week for the soldiers' trial

Both men agreed to speak to the HET after a request was made by Mr McCann's family, who were seeking information about his death.

During these interviews, both men were told they were under caution but at no stage were they informed that they were suspected of murder.

While Soldier A could not provide any more details in 2010 about the shooting due to memory loss caused by a stroke in 2005, Soldier C recalled some events which he told the HET investigator.

This investigator gave evidence at the trial and expressed surprise that the former soldiers were charged with murder on the back of his report.

At no time between 2010 and now has either man been arrested or questioned by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) about Mr McCann's death.

'Cannot be admitted in evidence'

As he gave his ruling, Mr Justice O'Hara said that as an "inescapable consequence" of the "compelling" defence arguments, both the 1972 statements and the 2010 interviews "must be excluded" from the evidence.

Mr Justice O'Hara said there was "oppression" of the soldiers in 1972 which "had not been removed" in 2010 and that prosecutors had failed to prove the statements were not obtained in that way.

He said: "Accordingly the statements and answers at interview, alleged by the prosecution to amount to confessions, cannot be admitted in evidence in this trial.

"What was required in this case and what never took place was that the PSNI should have interviewed the defendants under specific caution of a suspected crime, being murder.

"If that had been done and if admissions had been made a prosecution would have been possible."

Prior to giving his ruling on the statements, the judge spoke about the historical context, saying Mr McCann's death happened just after Bloody Sunday, when 13 people were killed after members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry.

It has also been a time when there seemed to have been "unending bombings and shootings", he said.

The judge also said an understanding was in place between the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the Army whereby the RUC did not arrest or question soldiers suspected of involvement in shootings.

Describing that as an "appalling practice" designed to protect soldiers and which was stopped the next year, Mr Justice O'Hara said it meant Soldiers A and C were never questioned by the RUC about Mr McCann's death.

The hearing is expected to resume on Tuesday.