After more delays and adjournments, the manslaughter trial of David Holden finally got underway in Court 15 of Laganside Court, Belfast on the 28th March 2022.
Holden denied the charges. The trial took place in a Diplock format, without a jury sitting, and was presided by Lord Justice O’Hara.
Many people referred to the case as a possible ‘last Troubles trial’, given the legislation that the British government were trying to impose which would limit prosecution in any legacy or Troubles cases.
Summary of Opening Days of Trial
Prosecuting barrister Ciaran Murphy, opening the trial, described the events of 21st February 1988 and how Aidan was shot approximately 300 metres from the sentry post. It heard that Sunday 21 February was Holden’s first morning of duty in Aughnacloy In describing the explanation given by the defendant Holden as to how this happened (‘wet fingers which had slipped onto the trigger’), Murphy said that even if this was the case of what had happened, it was a “grossly negligent or unlawful act.”
The court heard how Aidan was watched as he parked his car at Coronation Park and as he approached the checkpoint. Holden was notified by another soldier of Aidan being in the area and a short time later a burst of gunfire was heard.
A former soldier taking the stand on Day 2 of the trial said he heard a shrill from Holden which he described as a “shrill, high pitch sound” before looking “very shocked”. The soldier presumed that Holden had accidentally discharged the GPMG.
On Day 3 of the trial, another witness Sergeant Peters at the scene said he heard the “crack of rounds passing over his head” and as he climbed to the upper level of the sentry where the gunfire has come from, Peters asked Holden, “What happened?” to which Holden replied, “I squeezed the trigger.” Peters unloaded the gun and said there were 47 rounds remaining from a belt capacity of 50, with three empty cases lying on the floor.
Peters said he could see Holden was in shock as he had a “pale pallor and was expressionless with his mouth open” so he sent Holden downstairs for a “cup of tea”.
At this point, Lord Justice O’Hara addressed the army witness himself, asking, “Apart from sending Mr Holden down for a cup of tea and unloading the gun, did you look out to see of anybody had been hit?”. The soldier replied, “No sir. It didn’t occur to me that he had been aiming at somebody.”
On the 31st March 2022, (Day 4), the trial was adjourned due to the prosecuting barrister being unable to be at court “due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control.”
The trial resumed on 8 April 2022 (Day 5) where it heard from RUC Detective Chief Inspector Colville Stewart. Stewart interviewed Holden for five hours the day after Aidan’s shooting in Dungannon RUC station and described him as a “very scared young man“. At no point did he deviate from his statement that “some of the other soldiers left the GMPG in the cocked position” following cleaning of the barrel and that he was “never aiming the gun at Aidan”.
On Day 6, the court heard about how much weapon training Holden had received at the time of the shooting, hearing that he was deemed to be ‘skilled‘, the minimum standard for deployment. The court also heard that Holden was “quite slow to catch onto weapons training” and “did well” to pass his personal weapon test. On Day 7, a firearms expert gave evidence that “Holden’s account of events could not be excluded” but that a significant amount of pressure would have been required to pull the trigger.
Defence Order for Trial to be Stopped
The trial resumed on 18th May 2022, with the defence lawyer calling for the case to be thrown out of court, claiming there was a “huge void” in prosecution evidence including lost records which would have shown Holden’s full extent of weapon’s training.
The defence lawyer also argued that there had been an abuse of process saying that Holden was already disciplined by the Army under legislation from 1955 which saw him fined for negligent discharge of a weapon. His lawyer claimed that as a result of this court martial he could not be tried again for “an offence substantially the same.”
On the 30th May 2022, Lord Justice O’Hara rejected the claims outlined by the defence adding, “there is a case for the defendant to answer.”
Holden Gives Evidence
The case continued on the 31st May 2022 when David Holden gave evidence to the court. He described starting his shift that morning around 8.30am, changing roles with other soldiers throughout the morning and the cleaning of the GPMP gun a couple of hours prior to the shooting. By 2pm the position of the GPMG gun had changed from the northern town-side sangar window to the southern-side window.
When Aidan parked his car at Coronation Park at 2.45pm and began walking towards the checkpoint, this was communicated between Holden and Guardsman Norris who were in the northern (town-side) sangar.
Holden claimed to continue with his cleaning duties. Guardsman Norris asked Holden on the whereabouts of Aidan now to which Holden replied he was past the garage (Todd’s Garage) and towards the bend in the road.
Holden gave evidence that he continued with his cleaning duties when he noticed the GMPG was not in its ‘correct position’. In order to centralise the weapon, Holden picked it up by the pistol grip and as he did this “his finger ended up on the trigger” but he didn’t have a “tight grip”. Holden could not explain how this happened but was insistent that the “gun had not been aimed at Mr McAnespie.”
When Holden was pressed on WHY he needed to move the weapon, Holden said he wanted it placed in the centre of the opening “in case he needed to use it”.
Holden went on to say that 34 years later, he did not have a precise recollection of what exactly happened, but had a “theory“. He also claimed that he had no reason to believe that the gun was made ready (ready to fire) and when asked by his own lawyer, “Did you pull the trigger deliberately?” Holden replied, “No I did not…. 100% sure about that.”
Lord Justice O’Hara closed proceedings and said he hoped to have a judgment made before the end of June 2022.