Northern Ireland

Joe McCann's family hit out at 'disgusting commentary' after collapse of murder case against former paratroopers

The widow of Joe McCann, Anne McCann, and daughters Maura and Aine, outside court after the trial of two former paratroopers accused of the murder of Official IRA man Joe McCann in 1972 collapsed. Picture by Mal McCann
The widow of Joe McCann, Anne McCann, and daughters Maura and Aine, outside court after the trial of two former paratroopers accused of the murder of Official IRA man Joe McCann in 1972 collapsed. Picture by Mal McCann The widow of Joe McCann, Anne McCann, and daughters Maura and Aine, outside court after the trial of two former paratroopers accused of the murder of Official IRA man Joe McCann in 1972 collapsed. Picture by Mal McCann

Joe McCann's family has hit out at the "disgusting commentary we have been subjected to by British Army commentators and observers" after the murder case against two former paratroopers collapsed.

Mr Justice O'Hara found the former soldiers not guilty at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday.

Mr McCann, an Official IRA member who is said to have killed 15 British soldiers, was killed by the army while evading arrest in the Markets area of Belfast in April 1972.

The case collapsed after interviews given by both soldiers to the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) in 2010 were deemed inadmissable.

Retired officer Colonel Richard Kemp told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster yesterday that Mr McCann's killing was "justice".

"We shouldn't forget who Joe McCann was," he said.

He added: "The families do need justice and I think the families got justice when Joe McCann was shot in 1972".

The McCann family said they were appalled by the remarks.

"The disgusting commentary we have been subjected to by British Army commentators and observers comes as no surprise and as such it is clear to us that nothing short of a public declaration of the facts will suffice to correct the historical record as to our father’s murder," their statement read.

In an interview with the Daily Mail yesterday, Paul Johnston, a former deputy head of the HET wrote: "McCann's family said they wanted no more than to be told the truth about their father; they had no interest in retribution nor in the prosecution of the soldiers; they wrote a personal letter to the former soldiers saying just that".

However, Mr McCann's family said it "engaged with the HET as they were the formal state agency with responsibility for the investigation of our father’s case".

"They approached us," they said in a statement via their solicitor Niall Murphy.

"We received the HET report in October 2012 and following legal advice we submitted the HET report with submissions to the Attorney General in March 2013 seeking the opening of a new inquest into our father's killing.

"The Attorney General John Larkin QC, following his consideration of the HET report and our submissions, decided to refer the case to the Public Prosecution Service, as he considered the facts met the threshold for consideration of prosecution.

"The file was then transferred from the AG’s office to the PPS and in 2016, following detailed consideration of the papers, the PPS directed that Soldiers A and C be charged with murder."

The family said that Mr McCann was unarmed when he was shot in the back by three members of the Parachute Regiment.

"Soldiers A and C made admissions to the HET about having shot at our father, and it was the circumstances of those admissions that were deemed inadmissible by the Judge," they said.