MPs clash over Clonoe inquest ruling

MPs in the Commons have clashed over an inquest ruling which said Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were not justified in opening fire and killing a gang of IRA men.

Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy, and Patrick Vincent died in February 1992, minutes after carrying out a gun attack on Coalisland police station.

Unionist and Conservative MPs have reacted angrily to the verdict. Shadow NI Secretary Alex Burghart said: "If this is the state of the law, the law is an ass."

The Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Ministry of Defence is considering the judgement.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Benn said he was limited in what he could say given there is also an ongoing civil case, but added: "These are clearly very significant matters which require careful consideration."

He criticised the previous Conservative government, which had passed the controversial Legacy Act with aims of drawing a line under investigations and inquests linked to Troubles-era killings.

The Labour government is in the process of repealing that act but was pressed on what it will put in its place, in order to manage the ongoing issue of legacy.

Burghart said: "What if this had not been on the streets of Tyrone, what if it had been on the streets of Birmingham or Parliament Square?

"Would we find it acceptable that the courts subsequently sought to punish those forces that had risked their lives for ours? The consequences of this ruling are potentially very severe."

Benn responded that the last Conservative government's act "would have given those very terrorists killed in the exchange of fire the ability to secure immunity from prosecution".

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith who served in Northern Ireland, said some of the decisions he took as a soldier were "instantaneous" with no time to mull them over.

He accused Labour of creating a situation that would put veterans "back in front of the courts because the government seems not to care about them".

The secretary of state said he recognised some of the points being made and that it is right that the government "stands by" the armed forces and all those who served.

TUV Leader Jim Allister said there had been "tangible anger" at the ruling, while DUP Leader Gavin Robinson said he would not stand for a "rewriting of the past" when it came to the events of 1992.

Benn said he understood the anger that had been expressed by MPs but added: "It is not possible to write legislation which says we'll have the verdicts we like but won't have the findings we do not like because that is a decision independent coroners make."

The ruling was delivered last Thursday in relation to the killing of the men in the ambush in Clonoe, County Tyrone.

The soldiers opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick's Church car park in a hijacked lorry which had a heavy machine gun welded to its tailgate.

Security forces had intelligence the car park would be used and 12 soldiers were in position behind a hedgerow.

Solicitors acting for their families say they are considering the verdict with regards to the possibility of prosecutions.