16.9.03

BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Coroner orders MoD disclosure

Coroner orders MoD disclosure

Inquests will examine deaths of ten people
The police and the Ministry of Defence have been told to produce uncensored documents and videotapes concerning the killing of 10 people including seven IRA men.
Coroner Roger McLernon made the ruling at Dungannon Court on Tuesday.

He has given them 21 days to produce the material,

However, both the police and the MoD have made it clear at earlier hearings that they will not produce the material unless ordered to by the High Court.

The coroner was speaking at the protracted inquest into the 10 controversial killings which took place in the early 1990s.


Pensioner Roseanne Mallon, 76, was shot dead at her home near Dungannon by Ulster Volunteer Force killers in 1994.

A legal battle over evidence began after it emerged that undercover soldiers had Mrs Mallon's home under surveillance at the time of her murder.

The legal team representing Mrs Mallon's family wants access to soldiers' logbooks and to video footage.

Part of the evidence has been given to the coroner, with some sections blacked out.


Controversial

The inquest is being held alongside three other inquiries into the deaths of people killed in controversial circumstances in Northern Ireland.

Similar issues about disclosure have arisen in these cases.

The families of seven IRA men, shot dead by the SAS in two separate incidents, claim the uncensored documents and tapes will show there was a shoot to kill policy.

The families of Mrs Mallon and two other victims of loyalist terrorists say the uncensored material will give details of surveillance at the time of the killings, in which they allege there was collusion by the security forces.


Jack and Kevin McKearney were shot by a loyalist gunman as they worked in their family butcher's shop in Moy, County Tyrone, in January 1992.

Four IRA members - Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Patrick Vincent, Sean O'Farrell and Peter Clancy - were shot dead by the SAS in an ambush at Clonoe, County Tyrone, in 1992.

Three others - Peter Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally - were killed in Coagh, County Tyrone, in June 1991 when SAS soldiers fired around 200 shots into the stolen car in which they were travelling.






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