Sinn Fein chief Martin McGuinness to face inquest into murder of Seamus Bradley in Derry in 1972
SINN Fein chief Martin McGuinness has agreed to appear before an inquest to give evidence about the IRA’s activities in Derry in July 1972.
The deputy First Minister was asked to give a statement to the inquest by the family of Seamus Bradley.
The news emerged today during a review of the case by senior High Court judge Mr Justice Reg Weir QC.
He was shot dead by a soldier during the British Army’s ‘Operation Motorman’ in the Creggan area of the city on July 31, 1972.
The inquest heard that Mr McGuinness – who was a senior IRA commander in the city at the time – will co-operate fully.
Mr Bradley’s family says the British Army knew the IRA was not active on the day he was shot dead and that the use of lethal force was not justified.
Operation Motorman was the name given to a military operation by the British Army to reclaim ‘no-go areas’ set up by republican paramilitaries in towns across the North of Ireland.
In 2012, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) compiled a report stating that the British soldier who killed Mr Bradley has “acted lawfully”, which his family totally dispute.
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