In March 1993, an inquest was held into the death of Aidan.
The coronor, Roger McLarnon, said the death was a cause of ‘profound regret‘ and was ‘avoidable and should have been avoided.‘
Six military personnel were called as witnesses however Guardsman David Holden, the key soldier in the case, was not compelled to appear at the inquest as he was no longer in the British army. The only other soldier in the sanger when the fatal shot was fired was conveniently absent without leave for the six months previous to the inquest.
Coroner McLarnon said that this was ‘amazing‘ and of ‘profound concern‘.
Upon hearing this, the McAnespie family refused to attend due to its inability to discover the truth and had a number of questions;
- Why did the gun that killed Aidan have a live round in its breach while being cleaned?
- Why was it cocked?
- Why was the safety catch off? How could David Holden’s hands still be slippery and wet, ten minutes after he finished washing sanger walls?
- Is it possible to accidentally exert nine pounds of pressure on a weapon’s trigger, pulling it backwards and upwards?
- Why was Holden out of uniform, wearing what appeared to be a track suit when he left the sanger under police escort after the shooting?
- How could the Northern Ireland Office release a definitive statement of the shooting less than an hour after it had taken place?
- Was this a rigorous investigation?
The jury returned a finding that the soldiers in charge of the machine gun were in contravention of standing orders in relation to the handling of weapons. One soldier, Lance Sergeant Peters, who had handed the gun over to the defendant Holden was “almost sure” that he himself had not cocked it before handing it over.
However, nothing emerged which prompted the DPP to change its decision not to prosecute Holden or anyone else for that matter.
Throughout the 1990 – 2000s, the McAnespie family – lead by Aidan’s sister Eilish McCabe – raised Aidan’s case with the European Court of Justice in Brussels and urged the British, Irish government and the DPP to look at the case again.
HET Report (2008)
It wasn’t until June 2008 though when a breakthrough finally occurred. The PSNI Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report into Aidan’s shooting concluded that the version of events as suggested by the soldier (David Holden) “could be considered to be the least likely.”
The report went onto find that;
“…whatever the truth of the matter in this case, it is unlikely that the GPMP (General Purpose Machine Gun) was discharged in the circumstances, or in the manner, described by Guardsman Holden.”
Aidan’s sister Eilish McCabe was in Craigavon Hospital and in poor health when the report was released but the following statement was released on behalf of the family:
“We welcome the fact that the HET has highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in the official version of events. It was claimed that the soldier was in the process of physically lifting and moving the GPMG and that his finger slipped onto the trigger thus ‘accidentally’ firing off three shots one of which ricocheted off the road striking Aidan.”
“Reluctantly we have come to terms with the reality that the full truth may never be established. Only Guardsman Holden and others on duty that terrible Sunday know what really happened but at least we have an official report which rejects the accepted version of the incident . We accept that there are difficulties to legally justify reopening the case so many years on. Though we do not believe that we can find justice through the criminal justice system we have attained some measure of truth, truth for Aidan, truth for us as a family and truth for the wider community who supported us and never believed the official story.
We have never believed that Aidan died as the result of a series of random disconnected coincidences with no relationship to how he was perceived by those who harassed him on a daily basis.
This report vindicates our family and our long campaign for justice. We have always rejected the theory that Aidan was killed by a ricochet bullet fired at random because a soldier had wet slippy fingers which inadvertently came in contact with the trigger and that Aidan was not being tracked at that precise moment.
This report should be read by the British and Irish Governments, the Chief Constable, the Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Defence and the relevant authorities in the FSNI. And those in authority should at least have the decency to feel a sense of shame.”
Finally we wish to express our disappointment and frustration at the refusal of the Irish Department of Justice to allow us access to the Gardai (Crowley) report into Aidan’s shooting. Repeated approaches were made to the Gardai and Justice Department on our behalf by the Pat Finucane Centre and others however we have been refused. Many people in Monaghan and Tyrone co-operated with the Gardai at our behest but now we are not permitted to see the report even where we requested that a redacted version be made available with all witnesses remaining anonymous.”
Eilish McCabe passed away following a period of illness at her home in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone on the 4th August 2008. She left behind her husband Paul, children Una and Finbarr, parents John and Lizzie and siblings Sean, Gerald, Vincie and Margo. She was 50 years old. May she rest in peace.
