Four soldiers face prosecution over activity of Military Reaction Force in Belfast over 50 years ago

Four former soldiers are to face prosecution following a police investigation into the activity of the undercover British army unit known as Military Reaction Force (MRF) in Belfast in 1972.

One former solider, known as Soldier F, is to be charged with the murder of 44-year-old Patrick McVeigh and the attempted murder of four other people wounded in the same incident.

Mr McVeigh was killed when undercover soldiers fired from a car at a group at the junction of Finaghy Road North and Riverdale Park South on May 13th, 1972.

Soldier F and three other former soldiers – Soldiers B, C and D – will also face prosecution for the attempted murder of two victims during a separate shooting incident in Slievegallion Drive the previous day.

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The individuals referred to as Soldier F, Soldier A and Soldier C are not the same individuals involved in any previous or ongoing prosecution relating to Northern Ireland in 1972.

The North’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) issued decisions in relation to a total of seven former soldiers reported in connection with six incidents, including two deaths, involving MRF activity in 1972. It decided not to prosecute in relation to separate shooting incidents due to insufficient evidence.

The cases were referred to the North’s chief constable by the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Barra McGrory, for investigation following a BBC Panorama programme.

Former members of the MRF told the programme they had been tasked with “hunting down” IRA members in Belfast and had killed unarmed civilians.

The PPS also considered a file involving a separate MRF unit. Two former soldiers, known as Soldiers A and C, were reported for potential prosecution in relation to an incident in which 18-year-old Daniel Rooney was shot dead at St James’ Road on Belfast on September 26th, 1972 and another person was wounded.

Both former soldiers were considered for the potential charge of murder and attempted murder, the PPS said, but “after a thorough consideration of all evidence in this file, it was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any individual for any offence”.

It went on: “The reasons for the decision in this case included difficulties with the admissibility of accounts obtained from the soldiers in 1972 and the inability of a series of recent forensic examinations to provide evidence capable of resolving significant conflicts within the evidence.”

The assistant director of the PPS, Martin Hardy, said all victims and families were informed of the decisions on Thursday.

“Regardless of the differing outcomes in relation to each incident examined, we in the PPS recognise that this is a painful day for all victims and families involved and that they have waited a long time to reach this stage of the process,” he said.

“Where a decision not to prosecute has been taken, I can assure victims and families involved that the prosecution team, which included an independent senior barrister, considered the available evidence thoroughly, independently and impartially.

“A prosecution can only be brought when the evidence presents a reasonable prospect of conviction at court for any reported individual.

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