One hour after the fatal shooting of Aidan McAnespie, the Northern Ireland Office released a statement declaring the official explanation as that of “accidental shooting”. As a consequence of this position all subsequent investigation carried out by the R.U.C. was mobilized to support the bias of this explanation of events.
The RUC investigation hence concluded the death was ‘accidental‘, saying that the GMPG was discharged accidentally after “it was being handed from one soldier to another”. A spokesman for the RUC the day after the shooting said, “All three shots hit the ground and a ricochet from one then killed the deceased.”
The British army described the incident as a ‘tragic accident’. They claimed, firstly, that the gun used was being passed from one soldier to another when it was accidently discharged. This account later changed to one of accidental discharge when the gun was in the process of being cleaned.
The day after Aidan’s death, Gardai Deputy Commissioner Eugene Crowley was assigned by the Irish government to investigate the shooting. Conducting his investigation from Monaghan, the report was compiled and received by then Irish Justice Minister Gerry Collins in April 1988 but it has never been made public.
The Dublin government has claimed that some of those who gave evidence in the Crowley report did so on the assurance of confidentiality and anonymity and for this reason it is not possible to publish it. The McAnespie family have always disputed this.
The soldier in question, British Grenadier Guardsman David Jonathan Holden, who was 18 years old and on his first day of duty at Aughnacloy the day of Aidan’s shooting, saw his victim pass through the check-point on his way to a football match. He watched him walk towards the Republic of Ireland border, aimed and fired, to kill.
The McAnespie family employed the expertise of an independent expert ballistics scientist, Mr Keith Borer, who claimed that in order for the weapon to be fired a deliberate and precise sequence had to be adhered to:
- The gun had to be moved from its normal ‘skyward’ position to that which would correspond to Aidan’s position some 365 metres from the firing point.
- The safety catch would have to be put into the off position.
- The weapon would have to be ‘cocked’ in order that it is ‘armed’.
- Finally, the trigger would have to be squeezed to fire the weapon. Incidentally, the family’s ballistics expert was refused access to the weapon and its firing position.
In actual fact, the R.U.C. and British army explanation was so incredible, that they had to create evidence to support their case. For example, eye-witnesses saw a man coming out of the sanger, from which Aidan was shot, wearing casual clothing/ tracksuit and sports shoes, the next day the army had a number of their people painting the checkpoint in casual clothing.
Aidan’s Car Taken by Security Forces
Aidan’s car was parked close to the check-point in Coronation Park, a nationalist housing estate. On the day of the funeral, eye-witnesses seen a man remove it. When the family phoned Aughnacloy R.U.C. station to report it missing, they said that they knew nothing about it, but to try C.I.D. in Dungannon.
C.I.D. in Dungannon were not aware of the missing car, the family phoned Aughnacloy R.U.C. station back again to report the car stolen.
The press got to hear about the missing car and shortly after speaking to the family about the matter, a local journalist could tell the family that C.I.D. in Dungannon removed it for its own safety.
It seems incredible that of all the cars parked in the housing estate this car was in some kind of danger. The McAnespie family believe that Aidan’s car had been bugged or was being tracked by security forces and the car was taken by security forces to remove all devices again.
Shots Fired at Aughnacloy Checkpoint
Local people, living near by the checkpoint, say the British Army reconstructed their account of “three bullets being accidentally discharged” and the ‘ricochet theory’ when as darkness fell, a flashing light was placed at the spot where Aidan was shot and three shots were heard to have been fired.
When challenged by the press the British Army claimed, that they came under fire from ‘terrorists’ a claim denied by the I.R.A. and local people nearby who say no attack of the kind took place.