Premlinary hearing into death of Derry men shot dead by SAS told helmet worn had not been recovered

A preliminary hearing in the inquest into the deaths of two Derry men shot dead by the SAS in the grounds of Gransha Hospital in December 1984 has been told that a helmet being worn by one of the deceased had not been recovered despite searches for it.

At a previous hearing into the deaths of William Fleming (19) from the Waterside area of Derry and Danny Doherty (23) from Creggan the Coroner Mr Justice Ian Huddleston was told that efforts were being made to locate the helmets and clothes the men were wearing when they were shot.

The hearing heard that the helmet worn by Doherty had been recovered and had been handed over to the PSNI for examination.

Efforts were ongoing to try and find clothes worn by Doherty on the day.

Karen Quinlivan KC for the next of kin told the hearing that the clothes worn by Fleming had been returned to the family and subsequently destroyed.

Counsel for the PSNI said that searches for the helmet worn by Fleming had been made but had proved unsuccessful. 
The hearing also heard about issues with some of the soldiers involved in the inquest.

The hearing was told that a medical report was expected in January on Soldier A as regards his ability to give evidence to the inquest. 

Ms Quinlivan asked that any medical notes and records that will be made available to the consultant psychiatrist should be made available to the next of kin.

Counsel for Soldier A said that that issue may not arise and it would be better to wait on the report.

Soldier A is believed to have been one of the soldiers involved in the shooting and also the soldier who rammed the motorbike the deceased were on at the time.

Two other soldiers identified as D and E, the hearing was told, had initially indicated their willingness to take part in the inquest but had subsequently said they were 'reflecting' on that decision.

Another soldier identified as Soldier M counsel for the Ministry of Defence told the hearing was willing to make a statement but 'was not minded' to make himself available to a Coroner's investigator as he believed his involvement in the incident was 'tangential'.

Ms Quinlivan told the hearing that in another inquest some 20 members of the Headquarters Mobile Support Unit were identified from some of the sensitive material. 

She said that these type of incidents often involved the HMSU and in this case none were listed.

She said she wanted to flag up this issue in case any relevant witnesses could be identified that as yet had not been produced.

A further hearing is scheduled for December 2.

A date has been fixed for the inquest into the deaths of the two men for April 17 next year in Banbridge.

A previous hearing had heard that William Fleming had been shot 4 times in the head and 56 times to the body while Danny Doherty had been shot 3 times to the head and 21 times to the body.