Two former soldiers are to be prosecuted for murder in relation to the fatal shooting of an Official IRA man in Belfast in 1972.
The defendants, known as Soldier A and Soldier C, are the surviving members of the Army patrol which shot Joe McCann.
They are aged 65 and 67, and were in the Parachute Regiment.
They are from England, but are expected to appear in court in Northern Ireland in the next few months.
Joe McCann was a prominent member of the Official IRA. He was 25 when he was shot near his home in the Markets area of Belfast.
The original police investigation was conducted in the early 1970s and no-one was prosecuted.
Prosecutors have reviewed the case after the Northern Ireland Attorney General, John Larkin, referred it to the Director of Public Prosecutions in March 2014.
This followed a report in 2012 by a police team which investigated alleged crimes from the Troubles.
A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said the decision to prosecute the men for murder was reached "following an objective and impartial application of the test for prosecution"
I bet if your solider B your breathing a huge sigh of relief right now.
The defendants, known as Soldier A and Soldier C, are the surviving members of the Army patrol which shot Joe McCann.
I bet if your solider B your breathing a huge sigh of relief right now.
Two former soldiers are to be prosecuted for murder in relation to the fatal shooting of an Official IRA man in Belfast in 1972.
The defendants, known as Soldier A and Soldier C, are the surviving members of the Army patrol which shot Joe McCann.
They are aged 65 and 67, and were in the Parachute Regiment.
They are from England, but are expected to appear in court in Northern Ireland in the next few months.
Joe McCann was a prominent member of the Official IRA. He was 25 when he was shot near his home in the Markets area of Belfast.
The original police investigation was conducted in the early 1970s and no-one was prosecuted.
Prosecutors have reviewed the case after the Northern Ireland Attorney General, John Larkin, referred it to the Director of Public Prosecutions in March 2014.
This followed a report in 2012 by a police team which investigated alleged crimes from the Troubles.
A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said the decision to prosecute the men for murder was reached "following an objective and impartial application of the test for prosecution"
I bet if your solider B your breathing a huge sigh of relief right now.
have to admit to a pretty audible chuckle at that - shame the office was having a quiet moment at the time
Can I take a bow for that complete numpty post....
Ten cartridge cases were found close to his body, indicating that he had been shot repeatedly at close range.
Seeing shit like this makes me ashamed to be British,this Government knows no shame,absolute filth,every single member of the armed forces should hand their notice in now,not a day goes by without these ***** making me feel sick.
Really?
The guy shot sounds like a toe-rag who would have done exactly the same (probably had, in fact) given the chance, and I doubt many right-minded folk would have mourned his passing, but the day we give our forces leave to summarily execute people without trial, is the day we stoop to their level.
If we're going to dredge up crap like this then prosecute Gerry Adams for his IRA membership and his collusion in the murder of Jean McConville. Also, re-open the cases of every single unsolved IRA murder.
Or alternatively, afford every person who bravely served in the Army and the RUC in Northern Ireland the same courtesy as all those murderous terrorist scum from both sides who have been let out of prison early or had their cases quietly dropped - draw a line under everything, accept that the past was imperfect and for the sake of peace, move on with our lives. This decision today is beyond offensive, it's a betrayal of those who risked their lives in defence of the Crown.
If you want a 'Truth and reconciliation' type situation then fair enough Buzzer . We can have one over Iraq then Syria and then the next one. If you want to call these IRA guys murdering scum then you have to hold the moral high ground.
And before Storming Norman comes ranting I despised the IRA as much as the next man although I believed then and still do now in a united Ireland. I don't believe in planting bombs outside burger bars in pedestrians precincts but then I don't believe in much of what our foreign forces are doing either.