Former army soldier charged with murder over Belfast shooting

A former army soldier has been charged with murdering Patrick McVeigh, at Finaghy Road North, Belfast in May 1972. He, and three others, have also been charged with the attempted murder of six others.

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) charged the four men after looking through evidence that was submitted following a police investigation. The cases are not affected by the Legacy Act, which, from later this year, will offer amnesty to Northern Ireland Troubles cases.

The four men are not being named as yet, being known only as Soldier B, C, D, and F. It's Soldier F that is being charged with the murder of McVeigh.

All the shootings, including the fatal one, involved an undercover army unit known as the Military Reaction Force (MRF), which operated in Belfast in secret in the early 1970s. The PPS have said that in a related case - the killing of 18-year old Daniel Rooney - had sufficient evidence to charge two former soldiers. That murder happened in September 1972, about three months after the death of McVeigh.

The MRF was a unit of the army that had around 40 undercover soldiers patrolling mostly west Belfast in unmarked cars. It operated for about 18 months before being disbanded in 1973.

PPS Assistant Director, Martin Hardy, said in a statement that all victims and families involved have been notified of the PPS's decisions prior to being made public.

"Regardless of the differing outcomes in relation to each incident examined, we in the PPS recognise that this is a painful day for all victims and families involved and that they have waited a long time to reach this stage of the process.

"Where a decision to prosecute has been taken, I would emphasise that criminal proceedings will commence in due course and there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. We will keep in touch with the relevant victims and families as these cases progress.

"Where a decision not to prosecute has been taken, I can assure victims and families involved that the prosecution team, which included an independent senior barrister, considered the available evidence thoroughly, independently and impartially."