The Springhill inquest ended this week after hearing evidence for the last three weeks from 16 military witnesses. One of those former soldiers displayed contempt for the inquest proceedings when he laughed and sneered when being cross examined. Only known as SM10 to hide his identity and giving his evidence by video link the former Lance Corporal in 9 Platoon C Company 1 Kings Regiment served 12 years in the British Army. He admitted that he was present in Corry’s Timberyard on the 9th July 1972, the date the five victims were shot dead, but told the inquest he could not remember being there.
The inquest was able to establish that SM10 was present in Corry’s Timberyard on the 9th July 1972 when the victims were shot dead by soldiers under his command. Despite this he claimed his memory was poor and he could not recollect the incident. He said if shots were fired by his men they were responding to attacks by the IRA. He told the inquest he could remember a shooting incident that he was involved in the following day 10th July when he fired at what he claimed was a ‘gunman’. He told the inquest the person he shot lost two fingers in the incident.
SM10 displayed contempt for the inquest proceedings throughout when he was giving his evidence. He laughed and sneered at one stage to a question from counsel for the families. This was in response to the fact that none of the military witnesses to date have admitted to being the soldiers who fired the fatal shots. “Do you find that funny SM10 was the response from the barrister. This was an exceptional event in 12 years of your military career, and you are telling this inquest that you do not remember it and that you and the soldiers under your command never talked about it.” In further evidence it was revealed that in response to a questionnaire sent to him by the coroner’s investigators SM10 wrote on it, “I can’t remember anything.”
In marked contrast to the attitude of SM10 for the families of the five victims, the events of that day are seared into their memories and they, unlike the former soldiers, have never forgotten the events that day and how their loved ones met their deaths. Natasha Butler whose grandfather Paddy Butler was killed that day expressed how all of the families have felt after listening to three weeks of evidence from the former soldiers.
“Some days it can be quite frustrating because it feels like we are not getting closer to finding the truth of what happened to our loved ones. We deserve the truth and will accept nothing less than the truth. We will never give up until our loved one’s names have been cleared.”
The inquest continues on Monday the 26th February.
