UK Edition
Outrage as British soldier who shot dead a father-of-six in Belfast is named by coroner 46 years later
A grandfather who died a decade ago has been named as the paratrooper responsible for killing a van driver in Belfast at the height of The Troubles.
Allan McVitie, a sergeant in the Parachute Regiment, was identified after an anonymity order was lifted by a coroner examining the death of Henry Thornton, a father-of-six, who was shot dead in 1971.
Coroner Brian Sherrard had already ruled the paratrooper’s actions were not necessary, reasonable or proportionate.
On Wednesday he lifted an anonymity order that had prevented Mr McVitie’s identity being revealed to Belfast Coroner’s Court.
But veterans condemned the decision to name Mr McVitie, who died in 2007 at the age of 67. Alan Barry, co-founder of Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans, said: “Why name him? This is tarnishing his name when he is dead and cannot defend himself.”
The group has organised a march on Downing Street to take place this Saturday in protest at on-going criminal investigations into soldiers over historical events during the Troubles.
Mr Thornton, 29, died almost instantly when the soldier shot him through the rear of his Austin works van close to Springfield Road police station in west Belfast in August 1971.
Mr Thornton, from Silverbridge, Co Armagh, and his colleague Arthur Murphy were driving to work early in the morning when the incident unfolded outside a police station that was repeatedly attacked during the Troubles.
Mr Sherrard delivered his preliminary findings last year. The only addition in his finding ruling was the insertion of Mr McVitie’s name.
The coroner acknowledged that the paratrooper chased after the van with the “honestly held belief” that shots had been fired at the police station.
However, he said his decision to open fire himself was not justified, even if the occupants had been armed. The coroner said there were other non-fatal options open to the soldier. No weapon was found in Mr Thornton’s van.
“There is no evidence that Sergeant McVitie considered a less forceful response to the situation than the death of the driver,” said the coroner.
Mr Sherrard added: “The shooting of Mr Thornton was neither a necessary nor reasonable nor a proportionate response to the situation that Sergeant McVitie actually encountered or thought he encountered.”
A lawyer for the Ministry of Defence passed on his condolences to Mr Thornton’s family. Mr Sherrard assured the MoD barrister the lifting of the anonymity order would not set a precedent.
“Each and every one (anonymity applications) has to be looked at on its own merits,” he said. The coroner praised the dignity with which Mr Thornton’s family had conducted themselves throughout the lengthy inquest proceedings.
Outside court, Mr Thornton’s widow Mary welcomed the move to name the soldier who killed her husband.
“The way I look at it is, he shot him, so why not,” she said. “He should have been named.”
Mrs Thornton said the proceedings had brought some closure for the family, in particular her children.
“They grew up without their daddy and it was hard on them too - it was troubled times,” she said. “They couldn’t understand why he was shot. He was just an ordinary father who lived for myself and the children.”