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# Here I am again | 0:00:13 | 0:00:15 | |
# Back on the corner again | 0:00:17 | 0:00:19 | |
# Back where I belong | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
# Where I've always been. # | 0:00:25 | 0:00:27 | |
Cynthia Johnston was seven years old | 0:00:27 | 0:00:29 | |
when her father was killed by an IRA booby-trap in 1972. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:35 | |
She left Enniskillen when she was 22. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
Now, she's come home, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:39 | |
the trip prompted by the dramatic collapse | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
of a trial of a man she's never met, | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
a man Cynthia believes may have answers about her father's death. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:49 | |
The Hyde Park bomb suspect John Downey | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
walked free from court last month | 0:00:54 | 0:00:56 | |
after he produced a Government letter | 0:00:56 | 0:00:59 | |
saying he wasn't wanted for the attack. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:01 | |
The case also brought to light | 0:01:03 | 0:01:04 | |
details of a secret deal for so-called on-the-runs. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:08 | |
When the story broke, | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
it lifted the lid Cynthia Johnston had closed | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
on the events of 1972 | 0:01:14 | 0:01:15 | |
and opened up a whole new set of questions for her | 0:01:15 | 0:01:20 | |
because the judge revealed for the first time | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
that John Downey was also a suspect | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
in the bomb attack that killed her father. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
Spotlight has uncovered inconsistencies | 0:01:31 | 0:01:34 | |
in police handling of John Downey | 0:01:34 | 0:01:36 | |
in relation to his suspected involvement in that attack. | 0:01:36 | 0:01:41 | |
The Hyde Park prosecution collapsed | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
because of what the judge said was a catastrophic failure. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:47 | |
Cynthia Johnston is now asking if the police | 0:01:47 | 0:01:51 | |
have also made a mistake about her father's case. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
I want those answers. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
My father deserves answers. | 0:01:57 | 0:01:58 | |
Anybody who has died of a violent death | 0:01:58 | 0:02:01 | |
has the right to have their case investigated. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:06 | |
Coming up here, this was my primary school. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
-Really? -Uh-huh. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:13 | |
'I left Enniskillen in 1987. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
'Part of it was an escape, I think. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
'Then it was just the individual loss of a person. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:22 | |
'That is something that you can't really get over.' | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
Well, this is the spot where the explosion happened. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:30 | |
This is the spot where my dad was killed | 0:02:30 | 0:02:32 | |
along with his colleague, James Eames. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
This is it, this is the place. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:38 | |
'Someone unknown to Cynthia | 0:02:39 | 0:02:41 | |
'has placed two crosses at the site of the attack.' | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
It's such a respectful thing, you know? | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
They were nice men, well-liked. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:51 | |
I'm not surprised that somebody has done this. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
I know you'd spoken to me on the drive down here | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
and you had said that you're not bitter. | 0:02:56 | 0:02:58 | |
No. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
But I still want justice and I still want answers. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
Cynthia's father, Alfred Johnston, lived in Enniskillen, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
where he served as a part-time member | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
of the Ulster Defence Regiment. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:14 | |
The 32-year-old was the senior member | 0:03:14 | 0:03:16 | |
of a group of four close friends, | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
all soldiers with the regiment. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:20 | |
Private James Eames, a Post Office engineer in the town, | 0:03:21 | 0:03:25 | |
the youngest member of the group, 22-year-old Ronald Glass... | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
..and the fourth man, Robert Cranston. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:33 | |
Well, we met through the Territorial Army | 0:03:34 | 0:03:36 | |
and it was always good fun with each other. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
And I just suppose that would have carried on | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
when we did go into the UDR. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:45 | |
We would have had a better banter together, as well. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:49 | |
And it was more like a family, really, | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
and they did look after each other. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
Cherrymount and the Irvinestown Road outside Enniskillen... | 0:03:55 | 0:04:00 | |
the 25th of August, 1972. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
A UDR team on patrol. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:06 | |
The four-man unit - | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
Glass, Cranston, Johnston and Eames. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:13 | |
A couple of minutes to midnight | 0:04:16 | 0:04:17 | |
and the men are nearing the end of their shift. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
We had been briefed before going out that a car had been stolen | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
and that's when we noticed the strange car | 0:04:25 | 0:04:28 | |
pulled in very closely to the side of the road. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:31 | |
The patrol need to inform their superiors | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
about the suspicious vehicle. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
There were no radios available for us | 0:04:36 | 0:04:38 | |
as the radios were giving problems, at that time. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
That is the reason why Alfie and Jimmy | 0:04:41 | 0:04:44 | |
were going to the phone box - | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
because we had no way of contacting base | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
without the radios. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:50 | |
We went down, back down the road, and cut into the hedge to observe | 0:04:53 | 0:04:57 | |
if anyone came to lift it or, you know, any movement around it. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
But there were others hiding in ditches that night, | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
also watching. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
In the field above the car, | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
an IRA bomber was waiting for a lorry carrying off-duty squaddies | 0:05:11 | 0:05:15 | |
to return from recreational leave in town. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
An army lorry came from the Enniskillen direction | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
and just watched it come out to opposite the car | 0:05:22 | 0:05:25 | |
and the blast went up. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:26 | |
There was a flash, a bang and just... | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
it was sort of mayhem, then, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
with soldiers jumping out of the lorry and... | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
There were soldiers crying and... | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
..some injured and... | 0:05:42 | 0:05:44 | |
Just basically from that... | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
It's hard to know what everything really came in, then, | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
all the forces came in and we got... | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
Sorry. | 0:05:57 | 0:05:58 | |
There was a search started for Alfie and Jimmy. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:04 | |
We had been calling for them but no answer. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:07 | |
Another fellow that we knew that was in the UDR, he came along | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
and showed us a bit of a coloured belt | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
which we knew that everyone was wearing. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:18 | |
We knew then that... | 0:06:19 | 0:06:20 | |
..things were a lot worse than what we had thought they were. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
Quite easily, all four of us could've been killed. | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
Quite easily. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:38 | |
And the amazing thing is, like, | 0:06:42 | 0:06:43 | |
it was a bomb that wasn't even meant for us. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
So, Robert, this is footage of that scene. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
-Yes. -So have a look at this. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
That's from the next day. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:56 | |
That's atrocious. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:58 | |
Like so many others who've suffered, | 0:06:58 | 0:07:01 | |
Robert had assumed the trail had gone cold | 0:07:01 | 0:07:04 | |
and the investigation consigned to history. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
I thought it had just been forgotten about, | 0:07:07 | 0:07:09 | |
like so many others. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:10 | |
I felt that it was just a statistic in a book. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
So who killed Lance Corporal Johnston | 0:07:16 | 0:07:19 | |
and Private James Eames? | 0:07:19 | 0:07:20 | |
The Downey judgment revealed that there was evidence | 0:07:20 | 0:07:24 | |
linking John Downey to the Cherrymount bomb. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:27 | |
Tonight, Spotlight can reveal the nature of that evidence. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:31 | |
A single fingerprint | 0:07:31 | 0:07:32 | |
found on the tape wrapped around the bomb's batteries, | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
recovered from the scene. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
The information comes from a Historical Enquiries Team report | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
into the Cherrymount bomb. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
It shows the RUC had evidence to connect two men to the attack. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:49 | |
One suspect, a man with bomb-making experience, | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
has since died. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
The fingerprint which was found belonged to the second suspect | 0:07:53 | 0:07:57 | |
but he could not be identified at the time. | 0:07:57 | 0:08:00 | |
Fingerprint evidence from scores of people known to Gardai | 0:08:02 | 0:08:05 | |
had been passed on to the RUC at various times in the 1970s. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:10 | |
On at least one occasion, John Downey's prints were shared. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:15 | |
Two Garda officers were shot dead in Roscommon in July, 1980. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:19 | |
And a set of fingerprints taken that day, | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
of a man living in Cavan, | 0:08:22 | 0:08:23 | |
were given to the RUC and to the Metropolitan Police. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
They were identical to fingerprints found | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
on the bomb that killed Johnston and Eames. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
Suspect two could now be identified | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
as John Downey. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:39 | |
Despite this, no attempt was made by the RUC | 0:08:42 | 0:08:45 | |
to extradite John Downey from the Republic. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:49 | |
And the fact that he was wanted for questioning | 0:08:49 | 0:08:51 | |
about the Eames-Johnston murder | 0:08:51 | 0:08:53 | |
was not circulated to police in Britain. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:57 | |
I found it very, very upsetting | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
that there seemed to be no move forward at that time. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
If that information was used wisely, | 0:09:02 | 0:09:06 | |
we know that a person could possibly have been stopped | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
and the people that he worked with could possibly have been stopped. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
Garda authorities considered Downey | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
to be one of the most senior IRA figures in the Republic. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:21 | |
And they believed on at least two occasions | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
he met with IRA operatives in Dublin | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
known to be travelling to and from England. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:30 | |
'An amateur cameraman took these pictures | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
'minutes after the explosion at Harrods.' | 0:09:32 | 0:09:34 | |
In the early 1980s, England was a key target for the IRA. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
A series of high-profile locations were bombed. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
'..officers killed and injured | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
'were caught in the blast as they examined the car...' | 0:09:43 | 0:09:45 | |
Still wanted in Northern Ireland, | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
John Downey was free to travel to London in 1982. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
The attack in Hyde Park proved to be | 0:09:53 | 0:09:55 | |
one of the most notorious IRA atrocities. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
Four soldiers from the Household Cavalry | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
were killed by the blast | 0:10:01 | 0:10:02 | |
and several were injured. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
Seven of their horses also died. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
'In all, 23 people were taken to hospital, | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
'17 of them civilians who had simply been passing by.' | 0:10:10 | 0:10:14 | |
Police investigating the bombing got an early breakthrough. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
The car that carried the bomb | 0:10:17 | 0:10:20 | |
had been in two London car parks, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
leaving the second just four hours before the explosion. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
And the tickets handed in to those car parks | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
both had John Downey's fingerprints on them. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
These fingerprints matched the set of John Downey's fingerprints | 0:10:35 | 0:10:39 | |
taken by Garda officers. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
He was also identified from an artist's impression | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
of a suspect seen by eyewitnesses. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:47 | |
Ten months after the bombing, | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
the Met announced that they wanted John Downey | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
for conspiracy to murder. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:55 | |
'Scotland Yard say they still think he's hiding in Britain.' | 0:10:56 | 0:11:00 | |
'Beneath the debris, dozens of people lay buried. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:06 | |
'One question - Was the Prime Minister safe?' | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
In 1984, the IRA bombed the Tory Party Conference, | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
killing five people in an attempt to wipe out the British Cabinet. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:18 | |
According to the HET report into the death of Cynthia's father, | 0:11:18 | 0:11:22 | |
John Downey's name was circulated by police | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
as wanted throughout the UK | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
in connection with the Brighton bomb. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
But Sussex Police now tell us | 0:11:34 | 0:11:36 | |
that John Downey is not currently wanted for the Brighton bombing. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:40 | |
The HET report found | 0:11:43 | 0:11:45 | |
suspect two for the murder of your father | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
was also wanted for questioning in relation to Hyde Park. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:53 | |
Mm-hm. | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
What was your reaction when you read those details in the report? | 0:11:55 | 0:11:59 | |
It's shocking, to be perfectly honest with you. And... | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
That is one thing I've really struggled with. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
I just really struggled with that. I just... | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
You know, I am somebody who asks questions of things all the time | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
and I just pointed that out | 0:12:14 | 0:12:16 | |
to a member of the HET team at the time. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
I said, "Do you not think that if more was done | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
"this person could have been stopped in his tracks?" | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
The RUC only considered extraditing Downey | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
for the UDR killings in Enniskillen | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
after he became a high-profile suspect in Britain. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
The Director Of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland refused, | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
saying the fingerprint evidence was wholly insufficient. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
Four years later, the Met tried and failed | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
to get the Attorney General to apply for Downey's extradition. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
In the unsettled political climate | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
following the release of the Guildford Four, | 0:12:54 | 0:12:57 | |
it was considered unlikely | 0:12:57 | 0:12:58 | |
that such an application would be successful. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
But there was enough evidence to justify questioning John Downey, | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
so why was he sent a letter | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
saying he wasn't wanted by the police in 2007? | 0:13:14 | 0:13:18 | |
For other victims of The Troubles, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
the fear is that those suspected of murdering their relatives | 0:13:26 | 0:13:30 | |
have also wrongly been told they're not wanted. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:33 | |
Last weekend, a group of 50 travelled from Northern Ireland to England, | 0:13:33 | 0:13:37 | |
where they met the victims of the Birmingham pub bombings. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
Julie Hambleton, whose sister was killed in the 1974 atrocity, | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
organised the informal get-together | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
to strengthen ties between Northern Irish and English victims. | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
I know I'm preaching to the converted, here. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:55 | |
Many of you know the grief and the suffering and the loss | 0:13:55 | 0:14:00 | |
that we know, as a family. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
The OTR letters are meant to be statements of fact - | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
an individual is not wanted by police. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
But that's not how it feels to many relatives. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
'My sister went out that night and she was killed. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
'Nearly 40 years on, it's 40 years this year,' | 0:14:18 | 0:14:21 | |
we then find out that terrorists, | 0:14:21 | 0:14:25 | |
known terrorists, | 0:14:25 | 0:14:27 | |
have been given letters for Get Out Of Jail Free cards. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:33 | |
What on earth is happening to our justice system? | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
Stephen Gault, | 0:14:37 | 0:14:39 | |
whose father was killed in the 1987 Enniskillen bomb, | 0:14:39 | 0:14:41 | |
travelled to Birmingham. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
He was also one of a group of victims | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
who expressed their anger about the OTRs | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
directly to politicians, at Stormont. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:51 | |
HE SHOUTS | 0:14:51 | 0:14:54 | |
'To say I was upset was an understatement.' | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
I felt sick, re-traumatised. | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
The whole thing brought back painful memories | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
of the day my father was murdered. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:02 | |
I know from the press that there was two people | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
that were connected to the Enniskillen poppy day bombing. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
That received OTR letters. There is more than me that are feeling | 0:15:08 | 0:15:12 | |
very, very upset and hurt at the minute. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | |
It just devastated me. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:15 | |
What killed me the most, was that | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
those people who we were supposed to trust, | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
those people who we put our faith into, | 0:15:19 | 0:15:21 | |
those people who are supposed to protect the most vulnerable... | 0:15:21 | 0:15:25 | |
had just dismissed our grief and our loved ones' justice. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:31 | |
What distinguishes the Downey letter from others | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
is that the Downey letter was issued in error, he WAS wanted by the Met. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
But leaving that error aside, | 0:15:39 | 0:15:41 | |
how could John Downey NOT be wanted for questioning | 0:15:41 | 0:15:45 | |
about the Cherrymount UDR bombing? | 0:15:45 | 0:15:47 | |
CHEERING AND SHOUTING | 0:15:49 | 0:15:51 | |
As part of the Good Friday Agreement, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
hundreds of paramilitary prisoners | 0:15:55 | 0:15:58 | |
walked free between 1998 and 2000, | 0:15:58 | 0:16:00 | |
but in the years of negotiations that followed | 0:16:00 | 0:16:04 | |
Sinn Fein pushed for a deal | 0:16:04 | 0:16:05 | |
for people who were still wanted by police, | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
the so-called on-the-runs. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
John Downey's name was among hundreds passed to the British Government by Sinn Fein. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:17 | |
The party first asked for his case to be considered in 2002. | 0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | |
In 2004, word came back that John Downey was a wanted man. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:27 | |
The original fingerprint had been lost, but a photograph of it | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
still existed and the PSNI believed they had enough evidence to | 0:16:31 | 0:16:36 | |
arrest and question Downey about the killing of Johnston and Eames. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:40 | |
Alex Elliott was a PSNI officer who took a personal interest in the case. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:49 | |
He saw the police file. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:51 | |
I knew that there was a suspect, | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
a named suspect in the case. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
You knew that there was evidence in the form of fingerprint evidence? | 0:16:57 | 0:17:01 | |
Yes, I did. | 0:17:01 | 0:17:03 | |
Despite this, Sinn Fein continued to ask about John Downey's status. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:09 | |
On three separate occasions in 2006, the authorities confirmed | 0:17:09 | 0:17:13 | |
Downey was a wanted man and again, in January 2007. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:19 | |
Then this happened... | 0:17:19 | 0:17:20 | |
If you had told me some time ago that I would be standing here | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
to take this office, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
I would have been totally unbelieving. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
May 8th, 2007 was devolution day at Stormont, the day when Sinn Fein and | 0:17:32 | 0:17:37 | |
the DUP took up the reins of power together. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:41 | |
Two days later, | 0:17:41 | 0:17:42 | |
the PSNI decided John Downey was no longer a wanted man. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:47 | |
He was sent a letter indicating he was in the clear. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
It seems, right up until 2006, and 2007, he was wanted by the PSNI, | 0:17:52 | 0:17:58 | |
the PSNI would have arrested him and investigated him | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
if he had come back to Northern Ireland. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
But that position changed. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:04 | |
He was issued with the letter to say he was no longer actively being pursued. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:09 | |
There is no explanation for the change in the PSNI's | 0:18:09 | 0:18:12 | |
interest in pursuing Downey for prosecution. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
For more than 25 years, police thought the evidence from the Cherrymount bombing | 0:18:16 | 0:18:22 | |
was good enough to arrest and question John Downey. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
And then, suddenly, they didn't. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
We've asked the PSNI what changed their mind about arresting | 0:18:31 | 0:18:35 | |
John Downey for the UDR killings. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:38 | |
They didn't answer our question, but said | 0:18:38 | 0:18:40 | |
they intend to re-examine cases involving 228 named individuals. | 0:18:40 | 0:18:46 | |
A year after John Downey got his letter, | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team looked at the file reviewed by Alex Elliott. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:57 | |
Based on the evidence, they wanted to issue a new alert, | 0:18:57 | 0:19:01 | |
naming Downey as wanted for the Cherrymount murders, | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
a fact confirmed to Alex Elliott by a source. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
I was contacted in late 2010, by a source within the HET. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:16 | |
This source suggested that fingerprint evidence was available | 0:19:16 | 0:19:21 | |
and he was naming John Downey, | 0:19:21 | 0:19:23 | |
the evidence was pointing to John Downey. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:26 | |
The HET source suggested that there was sufficient evidence | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
for at least to go for extradition or at least an arrest and interview | 0:19:29 | 0:19:34 | |
because he believed this person was entering Northern Ireland | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
and that he should be arrested and interviewed...at the least. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
John Downey was leaving his home in Donegal | 0:19:44 | 0:19:46 | |
to visit Northern Ireland regularly, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
but he was never arrested for questioning about the UDR killings. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
In 2010, the HET finished their report. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
They had completely reversed their position, | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
they told the families there was no point in arresting the suspect | 0:19:58 | 0:20:02 | |
because he was unlikely to make an admission. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
I have never seen a case similar to this where it has | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
basically been swept under the carpet and forgotten about. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
Was it worth bringing the boxes to Belfast? Up to HET? | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
Well... | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
hard to say. Erm... | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
The statements in the boxes... There was fingerprint evidence, | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
there was photographs. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:28 | |
There has been no-one convicted since. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:31 | |
I don't know, I may as well have brought them out | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
and put them in the incinerator. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:37 | |
Evidence has been taken at the scene, at the time. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
Nothing was ever done about that. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
I am so incensed... | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
..and I am incensed that this information... | 0:20:47 | 0:20:51 | |
has...been there. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
The more I read... | 0:20:54 | 0:20:56 | |
the more flabbergasted I am to think there was no means to use evidence | 0:20:56 | 0:21:02 | |
and tie it up and make a case, but there has been nothing. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:07 | |
I have to say, I have lost my faith in...delivery of justice. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:13 | |
Personally, I have lost my faith. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:15 | |
I served for 31 years in the Police Service, it is hard to say, | 0:21:15 | 0:21:19 | |
but I don't have the same respect for them upholding law and order | 0:21:19 | 0:21:23 | |
and I think that's been proved in the Johnston-Eames case. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
As we know, John Downey travelled into the UK repeatedly | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
after he got his letter in 2007. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:35 | |
But when he went through Gatwick Airport on his way to Greece last year, | 0:21:37 | 0:21:41 | |
airport security spotted what the PSNI had ignored. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:45 | |
John Downey was still wanted for the Hyde Park bombing. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:49 | |
But Ian Paisley Junior suggests there might be | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
another explanation for the arrest. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
What has been put to me is that | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
a senior PSNI officer knew the letter | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
which John Downey had received was inaccurate. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
Did not challenge it because they had hoped he would come into | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
the United Kingdom and that the letter gave him, | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
hopefully, the view that he could come in freely. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
So, he was lured in, on that basis. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:14 | |
I think that's worth investigating. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
Downey was arrested, but never brought to trial. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
When he produced his letter, a senior judge ruled | 0:22:20 | 0:22:23 | |
that it effectively protected him from prosecution. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
The judge also revealed that similar letters had been sent | 0:22:27 | 0:22:31 | |
to 186 other people | 0:22:31 | 0:22:33 | |
and that was what unleashed a political storm. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:37 | |
OTRs, on-the-runs, were being dealt with | 0:22:37 | 0:22:40 | |
and to sit there to say that you didn't know about the OTRs... and that's 2009. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
And where does it say there was an administrative scheme to deal with the issue? | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
-Where does it say in that that you have read? -It doesn't. -No, it doesn't! | 0:22:47 | 0:22:50 | |
The DUP claimed to know nothing about the | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
so-called "letters of comfort" | 0:22:53 | 0:22:54 | |
and the First Minister threatened to step down | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
unless the letters were rescinded. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
I am not prepared to be the head of a government | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
that's kept in the dark in this way. I want there to be full disclosure. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
I want the people of Northern Ireland to know what's gone on. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
To stave off Peter Robinson's resignation, | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
Secretary of State Theresa Villiers | 0:23:11 | 0:23:13 | |
said it would be made clear | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
people who received the letters could still be arrested | 0:23:15 | 0:23:18 | |
and questioned. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:19 | |
The DUP said the letters had been rendered null and void. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:23 | |
I think that makes it very clear | 0:23:23 | 0:23:25 | |
that they have a fairly worthless piece of paper. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:29 | |
For if any evidence or information comes forward, | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
they can be questioned and as a result of questioning, of course, | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
if sufficient evidence is there, they can, of course, be prosecuted. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:41 | |
So, if John Downey comes back to Northern Ireland, does that mean | 0:23:41 | 0:23:45 | |
he could be prosecuted, in particular, for the UDR killings at Cherrymount? | 0:23:45 | 0:23:49 | |
Barrister Gavin Duffy says there would have to be new evidence | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
to bring a case. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:58 | |
If there is evidence that was not available | 0:23:58 | 0:24:00 | |
at the time that the letter was issued, the prosecution | 0:24:00 | 0:24:05 | |
are at liberty to consider issuing proceedings against him. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:10 | |
If he is in the jurisdiction, | 0:24:10 | 0:24:12 | |
he is liable to arrest and liable then to prosecution in relation | 0:24:12 | 0:24:17 | |
to any offence like that, but that really would depend upon there being | 0:24:17 | 0:24:22 | |
evidence which was not available in 2007 when the letter was issued. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:28 | |
While it seems inexplicable Downey was told he wasn't wanted, | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
the fingerprint evidence cannot be regarded as new | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
evidence because the PSNI knew about it when he got his letter. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:40 | |
So the question now is, how could the mistakes have been made? | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
And that, essentially, is what David Cameron | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
has appointed a High Court judge to investigate. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
The review will be looking at how the process was handled. | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
Whether other letters were given out in error as they were in the Downey case. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:58 | |
What it will not be doing is starting to investigate new evidence | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
against those people who received the letters. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
And so, it won't, in itself, | 0:25:03 | 0:25:05 | |
create a situation in which prosecutions can be pursued. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:08 | |
It doesn't seem to me that the review will really look at questions | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
of legality and it may well be that this particular inquiry | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
will be focused on trying | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
to uncover the exact circumstances under which the mistake was made. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
Ian Paisley sits on the Northern Ireland Select Affairs Committee | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
which has also launched an inquiry. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:30 | |
He is determined to get former Prime Minister Tony Blair | 0:25:30 | 0:25:34 | |
in front of the committee to account for the OTR letters. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:38 | |
After all, the buck stopped with Tony Blair | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
and it is up to Tony Blair to explain this process. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
What on earth was he doing? | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
I think it opens a whole host of matters | 0:25:46 | 0:25:48 | |
which Tony Blair really needs to give us | 0:25:48 | 0:25:51 | |
clear and precise answers on. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:53 | |
You will be one of the persons sitting before Tony Blair | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
in the Select Committee. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
What will you be asking him? | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
Tony Blair has to come up with the truth. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
Why? Why did he do this? What did he actually do? | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
What did he actually sign? | 0:26:05 | 0:26:07 | |
And answer all those questions... | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
And what did he get in return for all of this? | 0:26:09 | 0:26:11 | |
Because, clearly, | 0:26:11 | 0:26:13 | |
the citizens of the entire United Kingdom have been short-changed | 0:26:13 | 0:26:17 | |
in all of this and it is constituents of his Labour members of Parliament | 0:26:17 | 0:26:23 | |
who are now suffering as a result, not just constituents of mine. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:27 | |
Back in Birmingham, victims believe someone should be held accountable | 0:26:29 | 0:26:34 | |
for the OTR scheme which, they say, has added to their trauma. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:39 | |
Who in their right mind would think this was acceptable | 0:26:39 | 0:26:43 | |
and logical and moral? | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
Do they have no moral compass? | 0:26:45 | 0:26:48 | |
Is there no ethics left in our politicians today? | 0:26:48 | 0:26:52 | |
No longer is the door of a politician being knocked | 0:26:52 | 0:26:54 | |
and politicians being asked to resolve issues for victims. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
Victims are now speaking themselves. They have gained the strength. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
They have the courage and they want to go and speak for themselves. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:04 | |
If politicians come on the back of that and support them, great. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
But no longer will issues be passed over to politicians. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:10 | |
I'm angry. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:11 | |
And I'm really angry. My brother is... | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
There is a new tone of scepticism here about what | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
any of the inquiries will achieve, | 0:27:16 | 0:27:18 | |
from a group of people who have lost faith that the justice system | 0:27:18 | 0:27:22 | |
will ever convict the people who murdered their loved ones. | 0:27:22 | 0:27:25 | |
I have no faith in our justice system | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
and the likes of Hain and Blair | 0:27:29 | 0:27:32 | |
and their ilk are a disgrace on our political system. | 0:27:32 | 0:27:36 | |
John Downey strenuously denies involvement in the Hyde Park bombing. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:41 | |
I went to speak to him at his home in Donegal. | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
He did say his time in custody in London was difficult for his family. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:48 | |
But he declined to speak about the UDR killings in Enniskillen. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:52 | |
He has given an interview to his local paper | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
in which he spoke of his support for the peace process. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:01 | |
He said, "We need to move forward, peacefully, together." | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
Cynthia Johnston had never heard of John Downey | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
until he walked free from court last month, now she will find him | 0:28:10 | 0:28:14 | |
hard to forget as he has been linked to what the HET are said | 0:28:14 | 0:28:18 | |
to have described as "crucial evidence", | 0:28:18 | 0:28:20 | |
identified by Spotlight | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
as the fingerprint at the scene of her father's murder. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:27 | |
-If there is never any evidence, if he is never charged... -Uh-hm. | 0:28:27 | 0:28:32 | |
..isn't it fair that he be described as innocent? | 0:28:32 | 0:28:37 | |
Yes. Uh-hm. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:39 | |
I haven't used his name. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:41 | |
I have never said he is the person responsible | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
for the death of my father. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:45 | |
What I'm saying is now that a name has come up that's associated with | 0:28:45 | 0:28:49 | |
it, I would like an investigation to be done... | 0:28:49 | 0:28:52 | |
..into whatever evidence | 0:28:52 | 0:28:54 | |
and particularly the crucial evidence that they are talking about | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
to find out who did it. | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
Why do you think it was swept under the carpet, as you see it? | 0:28:59 | 0:29:02 | |
Well, dare I mention politics? | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
But erm...I honestly think that a lot of these letters have been | 0:29:05 | 0:29:09 | |
issued for political reasons, to keep Sinn Fein on board | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
within the political process, to keep the so-called "peace process" going. | 0:29:13 | 0:29:18 | |
Who knows? | 0:29:18 | 0:29:19 | |
But it has been swept under the carpet | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
and I can't see anything further being done about it. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:25 | |
The OTR letters gave some an assurance that they no longer | 0:29:28 | 0:29:32 | |
had to look over their shoulders. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
But others, like Cynthia Johnston, ARE looking back | 0:29:35 | 0:29:39 | |
and are questioning why, despite the apparent evidence, | 0:29:39 | 0:29:43 | |
their loved one's murder appears to be a case closed? | 0:29:43 | 0:29:48 |