For decades, the events of 1992 in Clonoe, County Tyrone, were shrouded in controversy. Now, in a landmark ruling, a High Court judge has determined that SAS troops used “unjustified lethal force” when they shot and killed four IRA men in an ambush.
The ruling comes after years of legal battles and scrutiny over one of the most infamous incidents of the Troubles. On that fateful night, Special Air Service (SAS) operatives opened fire on an IRA unit that had just carried out a gun attack on Coalisland RUC station. The four men, Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, 23, Peter Clancy, 19, and Daniel Vincent, 20, were shot dead as they arrived at St Patrick’s Church car park in a stolen lorry they had used in the attack.
An inquest into the killings, which opened in 2023, revealed that SAS soldiers fired up to 570 rounds during the ambush. In his findings, Northern Ireland’s presiding coroner, Mr Justice Michael Humphreys, ruled that the soldiers did not have an honest belief in the necessity of using lethal force. He determined that the killings were not justified and that no attempt had been made to arrest the IRA members, even as they lay injured and incapacitated.
The judge was critical of the operation, stating that it was not planned in a way that minimised the need for lethal force. He also dismissed claims made by the soldiers that the IRA members had fired at them in the car park, calling these assertions “demonstrably untrue.” Furthermore, he condemned the reports created in the aftermath, stating that official narratives describing a “firefight” were false and intentionally misleading.
Justice Humphreys highlighted that state agencies perpetuated these falsehoods, ensuring that the media reported an “exchange of gunfire” that never occurred. He pointed out that the Ministry of Defence had characterised the incident as “an excellent Security Forces success,” further solidifying the misleading portrayal of events.
The ruling also detailed how each of the four IRA members was killed. O’Donnell was shot in the back while attempting to flee and then again in the face while incapacitated on the ground. Clancy was shot while running and repeatedly hit while crouching. Vincent was shot while seated in the lorry cab and again while incapacitated, while O’Farrell was shot in the back while fleeing and then in the face as he lay on the ground.
The court’s findings have reignited debates over British military actions during the Troubles, with families of the deceased viewing the ruling as a long-overdue step towards justice. While some see it as an important reckoning with the past, others fear it may reopen old wounds in Northern Ireland’s still-fragile peace process.
