Hope that Henry Cunningham case will be settled after ‘shameful’ delays
Carndonagh teenager Henry Cunningham was murdered in a van fired on by UVF gunmen on August 9, 1973 when he was travelling home from his work as a plasterer in Glengormley
It is hoped a civil case against the UK’s Ministry of Defence over the murder of Carndonagh teenager Henry Cunningham by loyalists more than 50 years ago will be settled out of court in the new year.
The 16-year-old was a passenger in a van fired on by UVF gunmen on August 9, 1973, when he was travelling home from his work as a plasterer in Glengormley, Co Antrim, along with his older brothers Herbert and Robert.
The brothers took a case against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2015, after the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) found that one of the guns used in the attack was stolen from an Ulster Defence Regiment base. Herbert Cunningham died in January this year.
The HET report found evidence of collusion between loyalists and the security forces in the raid on the base. The murder weapons were recovered by the RUC in 1974 but were later destroyed.
It emerged last week that the case has been listed for a five-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast in February.
Paul O’Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry, which provides advocacy support for the Cunningham family, said it is now hoped that the case “won’t have to go to court” and “will be settled in advance of that”.
“There is a hope that it will be settled before it goes to court but if they [Ministry of Defence] do not step up to the mark now in January, there is a court date,” Mr O’Connor said.
“It is well past time for this to be dealt with by the Ministry of Defence. They [the family] have been trying for years. It has taken so long - it is shameful that is how the authorities deal with these issues - deny, delay and hopefully then let the people die.”
No-one has ever been prosecuted for Henry Cunningham's murder. Just three weeks after the murder an inquest returned an open verdict. In 2018 the family decided not to proceed with efforts to secure a new inquest into his death.
The Cunningham family sued the MoD for alleged misfeasance in public office and negligence, claiming it was aware that guns under its control were lost or stolen but failed to take any action.