A legal case is to be taken against the UK government’s new Legacy Bill on behalf of six families bereaved through what their solicitors call ‘state violence’.
Madden and Finucane confirmed last evening that one of those involved in the case is Billy Thompson, son of Kathleen Thompson, who was shot dead by a member of the Royal Green Jacket regiment in Derry on 6 November 1971.
In 2022 a coroner rejected the evidence of a former soldier who killed Kathleen Thompson and referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The solicitors say they will also be lodging applications for families directly affected by this legislation to the European Court of Human Rights.
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Release in full –
THE NORTHERN IRELAND TROUBLES
(LEGACY & RECONCILIATION) ACT 2023
Madden & Finucane Solicitors can confirm that in response to the passing into law,
pending royal assent, of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation)
Act 2023, we have lodged judicial review proceedings in the High Court for six
families bereaved through State violence in which we are challenging the lawfulness
of this legislation and its compatibility with international human rights standards.
High Court proceedings have been lodged on behalf of the following:
Billy Thompson, son of Kathleen Thompson, who was shot dead by a member
of the Royal Green Jacket regiment in Derry on 6 November 1971. In 2022 a
Coroner rejected the evidence of a former soldier who killed Kathleen
Thompson and referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Jonathan McKerr, son of Gervaise McKerr, who was shot dead near Lurgan on
11 November 1982 when members of an elite firearms unit of the RUC, fired
more than 100 rounds into a car driven by Mr McKerr killing him and his two
passengers. All three were unarmed. An inquest into their deaths has never
been concluded. In May 2001 – more than 22 years ago – the European Court
of Human Rights found the UK to be in breach of the European Convention on
Human Rights because no effective investigation had ever been conducted into
Gervaise McKerr’s death;
Una Eakin, widow of Gerard Casey, who was murdered by loyalist
paramilitaries on 4 April 1989 in Rasharkin, north Antrim. Gerard Casey had
been threatened in Castlereagh in the 1980s and a legally held shotgun was
seized by the RUC during a house raid six months before his death. One of the
weapons used in Gerard’s murder was a VZ58 assault rifle imported into the
north of Ireland by a UDA intelligence officer and paid agent of the British
Army’s Force Research Unit. In 2007 Gerard’s inquest verdict was quashed by
the High Court and in July 2010 the Attorney General for NI ordered a new
inquest into his death. In 2022 the Police Ombudsman published a report which
found ‘collusive behaviour’ between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries
in his murder.
Linda Hewitt, sister of Sam Marshall, who was murdered by loyalist
paramilitaries on 7 March 1990 in Lurgan. Sam had just left Lurgan RUC station
after signing bail. In a small urban area patrolled by at least 11 heavily armed
undercover British soldiers on foot, in observation positions and in cars, two
UVF men were able to enter the killing zone, murder Sam and attempt to
murder his two companions, and safely withdraw from the area unhindered.
Teresa Jordan, mother of Pearse Jordan, shot dead by the RUC on the Falls
Road, Belfast on 25 November 1992. In 2016 a Coroner formally referred two
former RUC officers to the Public Prosecution Service to consider whether they
should be prosecuted for perjury or perverting the course of justice arising from
their evidence to the inquest. No prosecutorial decision has yet been taken.
Eamon Cairns, father of Gerard and Rory Cairns who were murdered in their
home by the mid Ulster UVF in October 1993. In 2019 a loyalist paramilitary
admitted on a BBC Spotlight programme that he and others had conspired to
murder every male member of the Cairns household and that intelligence had
been received directly from the RUC. VZ58 assault rifles were used in the
murders. In May 2023 a file was submitted to the Director of Public
Prosecutions.
We will also be lodging applications for families directly affected by this legislation to
the ECHR in Strasbourg over the coming weeks.
