UP to 13 former SAS soldiers are facing possible criminal charges over an alleged ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy against the IRA 30 years ago, it has been reported today.
Two of those shot dead were Derry IRA men Danny Doherty and William Fleming.
British newspaper The Mail on Sunday says senior PSNI officers are investigating claims that the elite troops executed republican suspects in cold blood in a series of carefully planned covert operations.
A dossier of incidents will be presented at a legal hearing next month.
The bid to put the SAS troops in the dock over events of the 1980s and 1990s will be controversial as it follows assurances given to 200 republican suspects terrorists that they are immune from prosecution for their actions at the time.
The paper quoted SAS sources saying the troops are “innocent” and opened fire to “protect themselves”.
The probe has been launched as part of a new inquest into the fatal shootings of two republicans in Derry in December 1984.
Daniel Doherty, 23, and William Fleming, 19, were driving on a motorbike through the grounds of a hospital when an undercover SAS team launched a deadly ambush.
Acting on intelligence that the pair were on an operation, one SAS soldier drove a car into the path of the bike, causing Doherty to swerve.
Fleming fell from his seat and was shot by soldiers armed with pistols and a sub-machine gun.
Doherty was also shot at close range, suffering three wounds to the head and 21 to the body.
Both men were armed with pistols hidden in their clothing and were on what the IRA later described as an ‘active service mission’.
Their intended target was an off-duty member of the UDR.
Doherty and Fleming later received full IRA military funerals in the city.
Lawyers claim a senior British Army officer, codenamed Soldier H, led the operation and at least six other missions, leading to the deaths of 16 republicans.
Fearghal Shiels, of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, told the newspaper: ‘His planning of all of these operations shall be the focus of intense scrutiny.’’
He added that other British soldiers would also be called to account.
Criminal charges, funded by legal aid, could follow, depending on the outcome of the inquest.
A coroner has identified 13 SAS troops as part of his inquiry, and at a preliminary hearing last year was told that three had refused to give statements.
The Ministry of Defence in London told the newspaper: ‘We co-operate fully with inquests into all deaths in which military personnel are involved.’’
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