Delivered: 11/05/2021 in the MATTER of the CORONERS
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Neutral Citation No: Ref: KEE11472 ICOS No: Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down (subject to editorial corrections)* Delivered: 11/05/2021 IN THE MATTER OF THE CORONERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1959 __________ IN THE MATTER OF A SERIES OF DEATHS THAT OCCURRED IN AUGUST 1971 AT BALLYMURPHY, WEST BELFAST __________ INCIDENT 1 THE DEATHS OF FATHER HUGH MULLAN AND FRANK QUINN __________ CORE ABBREVIATIONS IN THIS INQUEST: MoD: Ministry of Defence NOK: Next of Kin IRA: Irish Republican Army HET: Historical Enquiries Team UVF: Ulster Volunteer Force APC/Saracen: A six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) APC/Pig: A Humber armoured personnel carrier (APC) SEM-EDX test: Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry CDR: Cartridge Discharge Residue SAA: Small Arms Ammunition SLR: Self-loading Rifle RUC: Royal Ulster Constabulary PSNI: Police Service of Northern Ireland CSNI: Coroners Service for Northern Ireland CSO: Crown Solicitor’s Office FSNI: Forensic Science Northern Ireland 1 CIFEX: Centre for Information on Firearms and Explosives FAL: Fusil Automatique Leger Sections Paragraphs I. Introduction [1]-[8] II. Family Testimonials [9]-[15] III. Setting the scene [16]-[25] IV. The Pathology Evidence: Father Hugh Mullan [26]-[34] V. The Ballistics Evidence: Father Hugh Mullan [35]-[37] VI. The Pathology Evidence: Mr Quinn [38]-[44] VII. The Ballistics Evidence: Mr Quinn [45]-[50] VIII. The Civilian Evidence [51]-[260] IX. Evidence from RUC Witnesses [261]-[277] X. Military Evidence [278]-[470] XI. Other Evidence including the investigation at the time [471]-[474] XII. Conclusions from the Evidence [475]-[524] XIII. Verdict [525] I: INTRODUCTION [1] This is an account of the evidence and my conclusions and verdict. I have considered all of the evidence heard in this case which spanned over most of the length of this inquest series at various times. I have also considered all of the papers and the written submissions of counsel. This text does not recount each and every aspect of the voluminous material I have considered and so it should not be assumed that where some detail is not specifically mentioned I have not considered it. I have considered the totality of the evidence in reaching my findings. [2] In the introductory chapter I set out the law governing inquests in Northern Ireland which I have applied. I have heard this inquest as a judge sitting as a coroner without a jury, with the agreement of all parties. I have kept in mind the investigative obligation imposed by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. I have applied the balance of probabilities as the standard of proof. 2 As I also said in the introductory section, the standard of proof is one thing but the cogency of the evidence is another as this case relates to events 50 years ago. The court is mindful that memory is affected by the passage of time and so accounts must be examined carefully before findings can be made. In accordance with my obligations in law I have, upon assessing all of the evidence I have seen and heard, tried to reach a verdict on the core issues. Where I have not been able to reach a conclusion I have explained why. [3] The two deceased in this incident died on 9 August 1971 in waste ground adjacent to Springfield Park in Belfast. This part of the Inquest progressed over the longest period of time due to issues of tracing of military witnesses. The deceased, Father Hugh Mullan, resided at 45 Springfield Park, Belfast, adjacent to the waste ground in which he died. His date of birth was 9 April 1933. He was born in Portaferry in County Down and he was a priest in the parish of Ballymurphy and by all accounts he was well known. Father Mullan died on the night in question. [4] The other deceased in this incident is Francis Joseph Quinn who lived at 49C Moyard Crescent, Belfast. He was born on 21 April 1952. He was a married man and a father to one child at the date of his death. Mr Quinn also died on the evening of 9 August 1971. [5] Whilst these deaths occurred in close proximity the inquests were originally heard on separate occasions. The original inquest into the death of Francis Quinn took place on 17 February 1972. The original inquest into the death of Father Mullan took place on 26 October 1972. It is apparent that the separation of these inquests caused some difficulties in terms of the evidence. I will return to this matter in due course. However, I have clearly had the benefit of all of the evidence touching on both deaths in this inquest series and I have heard these two cases together. [6] On 10 June 2011 the Attorney General for Northern Ireland directed, under the power given to him by Section 14 of the Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, 3 that a further inquest be held into the death of Francis Quinn. The reasons for this are important to state and are set out in correspondence of 10 June 2011 as follows: “I note from the documentation provided to this office by the Public Records Office Northern Ireland that oral evidence or statements of two civilian witnesses, Robert Clarke and Gerald Clarke were available to the inquest jury in the case of Frank Quinn. Robert Clarke described being shot as he crossed an area of waste ground between the Springfield Park and Moyard areas. Mr Clarke said that, in his view, this shot came from a roof in Springmartin where he had seen soldiers about twenty minutes earlier. A statement from Mr Clarke’s brother Gerald Clarke is also contained within the inquest papers provided by the Public Records Office. Gerald Clarke’s statement indicates that, after his brother was shot, he witnessed Father Mullan being shot and that, in his opinion, the shots in question came from the roof of flats in Springmartin. Gerald Clarke also describes another man in close proximity to him being apparently shot and killed and says that he assumed that the man in question was Frank Quinn. He also said that the shots directed into the field seemed to be coming from two positions, Springmartin and Finlay’s factory. He was of the opinion that the fire coming from the area of Finlay’s factory was not military fire, but that the shooting from the Springmartin area was from military SLR rifles. Despite the opinion expressed to the civilian witnesses to the effect that the army were firing into the waste ground between the Springfield Park and Moyard areas, it 4 appears that the only statements of soldiers who had fired shots on the day in question which were made available to the inquest jury charged with deliberating on the death of Francis Quinn were those of two soldiers referred to as Soldier A and Soldier E. Soldier A and Soldier E were both stationed on the roof the Vere Foster school. While Soldier E refers to firing shots at three men in an area of waste ground, he describes this waste ground as being on the southerly side of a right hand bend in the Springfield Road about 100 metres from the (Henry Taggart) Church Hall. This is clearly not the waste ground between Springfield Park and Moyard. The only other shots described as being fired by Soldiers A and E were directed at targets in an upper flat in a block of maisonettes which the soldiers said that they now knew or believed to be number 21 Moyard Park. Soldier A, who appears to be in a position of command in relation to the other soldiers stationed on the roof of the Vere Foster school, said that ‘At no time during the night in question was any fire directed from the school towards the Finlay Factory area due north of the school.’ From Vere Foster School the Finlay factory area would be in the same general direction as the area of waste ground between Springfield Park and Moyard. It is further noted that a deposition from [M26] of the Special Investigation Branch (Royal Military Police) was available to the inquest jury. [M26] visited the roof of the Vere Foster School on the day after the gun battle. The import of his evidence is that he inspected the view from the two Sangars on the roof of the school and concluded 5 that the sentries on the roof of the school could not have sight of a black flag on the waste ground behind and between numbers 80 and 82 Moyard Park (i.e. the waste ground between Springfield Park and Moyard.) This black flag was apparently intended to mark the spot on the waste ground from which the body of Father Mullan had been recovered, although it is not clear from the inquest papers relating to Francis Quinn who placed it there or when it was so placed. [M26’s] statement concludes thus: ‘From enquiries I made among military personnel deployed in Springmartin Road following the shooting between Protestants and Catholics I ascertained that no military personnel had fired into the Moyard area from Springmartin Road during the evening of 9th August 1971.’ It is clear from the Royal Military Police statements presented to this office, and indeed from evidence later presented to the inquest in respect of Father Mullan, that there is a large body of evidence indicating that soldiers did fire into the Moyard area, and did indeed fire shots at targets in the waste ground between Springfield Park and Moyard. It is further noted that the later deposition of [M26], made in respect of Father Mullan’s inquest, contradicts his earlier assertion that no military personnel had fired from Springmartin.