FAMILIES of three men shot dead by the SAS in west Belfast six years ago lost a court action yesterday over a decision not to call British army witnesses at the inquest.
In the Belfast High Court, Mr Justice Kerr dismissed an application for judicial review of the coroner Mr John Lecky's decision relating to the inquest on Mr John McNeill (43), Mr Peter Thompson (21) and Mr Eddie Hale (25), who were shot during a robbery at a betting shop in January, 1990.
In a reserved judgement yesterday, Mr Justice Kerr acknowledged that there might well be public concern about the motivation of the soldiers in opening fire. But an inquest should be into the relevant facts attaching to the means by which a person died rather than the circumstances which led to death.
