The RUC man on patrol with paratrooper Lee Clegg the night he shot and killed Karen Reilly yesterday accepted he could be wrong about when the shooting started. Constable Ronald Gibson had told the Belfast trial of Mr Clegg for the murder of Ms Reilly that the shooting started after the stolen car, in which the 18-year-old was a passenger, had passed him. Yesterday he accepted his perception of when it began was wrong, but added that the shooting had surprised him because, "there was no need for it".
Mr Gibson was being cross-examined about what he had described as his "error in judgment" in what he initially told his authorities. Mr Gibson agreed that his perception of the events surrounding the shooting on September 3Oth, 199O, "may be flawed". He agreed the soldiers on patrol with him on the Glen Road would have had a different view of events from him and each other.
He said that when the stolen Astra car accelerated towards him he had no doubt that if he didn't get out of its path his life would have been at risk. But Mr Gibson denied he saw the car swerving from side to side, although he had put that in his first statement. "At that time I didn't want to get anyone in trouble because I knew the soldiers were looking for some justification for firing on the car," he said. He said he was "not directly" asked to lie about the events, but added: "It was the events of the night that basically directed my course of action and as I say it was an error in judgment on my part."
The trial has been adjourned until next Tuesday.