After forty-seven days and four weeks of hearing evidence from twenty-two military witnesses, the Springhill inquest still does not know the identities of the soldiers who fired the fatal shots that murdered, three teenagers, a father of six and a parish priest. Of the five victims killed three were killed by a single shot to the head one was shot in the back and the other in the chest. None of the soldiers involved in the deaths, whose statements were read out at the original inquest, have been traced by the coroner’s office. No firearms were recovered from the scenes of where the victims were killed and there was no evidence that any of them had handled weapons despite the claims by the British soldiers that those killed were gunmen.
Not one of the twenty-two military witnesses appeared before the inquest in person, all gave their evidence by video link, screened from the public and only referred to by ciphers to protect their identities. Their evidence was often evasive, lacking in detail, unbelievable and simply not credible. In response to questions from counsel for the families the soldiers claimed they could not remember, or they did not know who was involved in the killings. All of this despite the fact that most of those giving evidence were commanders of 7 and 8 platoons of the Kings Regiment who were believed to have been responsible for shooting dead the five victims.
The former soldiers were able to describe in great detail the command structure and tactics of the British Army during their tour of duty in West Belfast. They remembered details of being fired upon and engaged in ‘gun battles’ with gunmen. However, when cross examined by counsels for the families about the killing of the five victims they knew nothing about the deaths or the identity of the soldiers involved in firing the fatal shots. Incredibly several of the witnesses claimed that they had not even heard about anyone being killed on the 9th July until the coroner’s investigators contacted them in 2023. Despite the fact that the killing of five people in one night would have been an ‘exceptional military event’ in the history of their military careers, all of them denied any involvement in the deaths and they told the inquest that the soldiers they served with never talked about it.
The inquest continues on Monday the 4th March.
