Aidan McAnespie - HET enquiry

Started by bennydorano, June 25, 2008, 12:25:48 PM

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bennydorano


Quote
Checkpoint death report welcomed
The family of a County Tyrone man shot dead 20 years ago has welcomed the findings of a report by the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team.

Aidan McAnespie was shot by a soldier as he walked through a border checkpoint at Aughnacloy in 1988.

The soldier claimed that his hands were wet, causing him to accidentally fire the machine-gun when he was moving inside a sanger.

The report called this the "least likely version" of what happened.

The 24-year-old Aughnacloy man had just passed through the border checkpoint in the village on his way to a Gaelic football match when he was hit by a bullet.

Forensic evidence suggested the fatal shot ricocheted off the road.

The soldier was charged with manslaughter, but this was later withdrawn.

Mr McAnespie's niece, Una McCabe, said the family will continue to search for the truth.

"The search will continue to go on and continue," she said.

"That involves asking the Irish government to release the information on the whole Crowley Report (an investigation by Deputy Garda Commissioner Crowley into the shooting) to the family and going back to the Ministry of Defence to ask what actually did happen."

The MoD said it had co-operated with the HET inquiry and understands that this did not uncover any new evidence that would warrant further investigation.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7471825.stm

There's a better version in today's Irish News if someone could post it.

ziggysego

Inquiry team cast doubts on 'accidental' killing by army By Staff reporter
25/06/08

DETECTIVES yesterday challenged British army claims that the shooting of a man at a heckpoint on the border was accidental. Aidan McAnespie was killed by a ricochet when shots were fired from an army sangar near the Co Tyrone village of Aughnacloy in 1988.

Yesterday investigators from the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) threw a spotlight on the controversial case by questioning claims that the soldier involved fired the shots accidentally while moving his weapon.

Grenadier Guardsman David Holden claimed his hands were wet after cleaning his post and he had accidentally fired his machine gun as he moved it.

The soldier was charged with manslaughter but the Director of Public Prosecutions later withdrew this and the shooting was declared an accident.

The McAnespie family never accepted the ruling and yesterday welcomed the HET findings.

The report found: "In the final analysis, the HET is of the view that, whatever the truth of the matter in this case, it is unlikely that the GPMG [General Purpose Machine Gun] was discharged in the circumstances or in the manner described by Guardsman Holden."

The HET test-fired a GPMG and found that: "Activating the trigger required having a firm grip on the pistol grip and squeezing the trigger until it activated.

"It was found to be difficult and required considerable force to activate the trigger without having the hand firmly gripped around the pistol grip."

The HET said the "wet hands" scenario was difficult to reconcile with the timing of the cleaning duties.

Investigators also questioned the army scenario, suggesting the great distance between the soldier Mr McAnespie threw doubt on the claims of accidental shooting.

The McAnespie family said the HET had questioned "the likelihood of an accidental random discharge striking the roadway only a few feet behind what would be, from the vantage point of the machine gun post, a miniscule figure at a distance of 283.4m".

"We welcome the fact that the HET has highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in the official version of events," Mr McAnespie's sister Elish said.

"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."

The shooting came after 24-year-old Mr McAnespie had made numerous allegations of security force harassment at the checkpoint where he believed soldiers suspected he was an IRA member.

He passed the checkpoint every day on his way to work at a food processing plant in the Republic and on the day of the shooting he was visiting a GAA ground.

Mr McAnespie raised his harassment allegations in the media and his death was condemned by the then Catholic primate Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich and senior members of the GAA.

The HET found that the soldier was not questioned until 24 hours after the event and forensic experts did not examine the scene until the day after the shooting.

The family also said they were disappointed and frustrated that the Irish government had not allowed them to read a Garda report on the shooting.

"[The HET] report vindicates our family and our long campaign for justice," Ms McAnespie said.

"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 (Forensic Science Northern Ireland)."

Testing Accessibility

Il Bomber Destro

It seems The Free State have withheld and continute to withhold information from the McAnespie family for nearly 30 years.

https://player.fm/series/14264/195774343

BennyCake

Quote from: Il Bomber Destro on January 14, 2018, 10:20:05 AM
It seems The Free State have withheld and continute to withhold information from the McAnespie family for nearly 30 years.

https://player.fm/series/14264/195774343

Irish govt also have info withheld for years regarding the Miami show band massacre as well.

Il Bomber Destro

Nothing out of line with how the Free State establishment parties have aided the coverup of British State terrorism in Ireland.

thejuice

British soldier charged with manslaughter but I'm still not clear what actually happened reading reports which suggests there were three shots one of which hit Aiden but was a ricochet???
It won't be the next manager but the one after that Meath will become competitive again - MO'D 2016

general_lee

Quote from: thejuice on January 27, 2023, 11:34:32 AM
British soldier charged with manslaughter but I'm still not clear what actually happened reading reports which suggests there were three shots one of which hit Aiden but was a ricochet???
Automatic weapon hence 3 shots?

thejuice

Yeah, so did the soldier just point the gun at him and let a few shots off to scare him or what?
It won't be the next manager but the one after that Meath will become competitive again - MO'D 2016

redhandloo

Is this a real question?  Will you please do some research on the topic before submitting a post like that?  He was certainly trying to do more than scare him!
Tough times don't last, tough people do!

general_lee

Quote from: thejuice on January 27, 2023, 11:48:24 AM
Yeah, so did the soldier just point the gun at him and let a few shots off to scare him or what?
Pointed the gun, more like took aim and fired at an innocent civilian. One that had been victim of regular British army harassment and intimidation. They even said beforehand they'd kill him and they did.

Like every other soldier that has shot dead an innocent civilian, he received little more than a slap on the wrist at the time. To add that little bit more insult to injury, sentencing has been deferred until
next week. I half expect some health complications will emerge with Holden between now and then.

RedHand88

Let's not forget they held on to the chunk of flesh where the bullet entered his body, which would have died what angle the bullet came in at.
That part of the body was never released.

imtommygunn

Quote from: general_lee on January 27, 2023, 01:22:52 PM
Quote from: thejuice on January 27, 2023, 11:48:24 AM
Yeah, so did the soldier just point the gun at him and let a few shots off to scare him or what?
Pointed the gun, more like took aim and fired at an innocent civilian. One that had been victim of regular British army harassment and intimidation. They even said beforehand they'd kill him and they did.

Like every other soldier that has shot dead an innocent civilian, he received little more than a slap on the wrist at the time. To add that little bit more insult to injury, sentencing has been deferred until
next week. I half expect some health complications will emerge with Holden between now and then.

Protesting outside court where some poor family had a member of their family killed for no reason. Sickens my head.

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised by a health thing either.

Feckitt

Quote from: thejuice on January 27, 2023, 11:48:24 AM
Yeah, so did the soldier just point the gun at him and let a few shots off to scare him or what?

WTF Juice, Have you been living under a rock?

seafoid

Quote from: RedHand88 on January 27, 2023, 01:39:08 PM
Let's not forget they held on to the chunk of flesh where the bullet entered his body, which would have died what angle the bullet came in at.
That part of the body was never released.
That's grotesque.
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Look-Up!

Quote from: seafoid on January 27, 2023, 04:45:26 PM
Quote from: RedHand88 on January 27, 2023, 01:39:08 PM
Let's not forget they held on to the chunk of flesh where the bullet entered his body, which would have died what angle the bullet came in at.
That part of the body was never released.
That's grotesque.
Would be more accurate to say removed and dumped without informing deceased family.

Absolutely disgusting.