BALLYMURPHY INQUEST: CORONER RULES VICTIMS WERE ENTIRELY INNOCENT

Ballymurphy victims families arriving at ICC
Author: Sasha WyliePublished 11th May 2021
Last updated 11th May 2021

A corner has found 10 people who were killed during the 'Ballymurphy Massacre' were entirely innocent.

A mother of eight and a Catholic priest were among those who died in August 1971 in events.

It came during a turbulent period following the controversial introduction of internment without trial in Northern Ireland at the start of the Troubles.

Violence erupted on August 9 when soldiers moved into republican strongholds to arrest IRA suspects.

Original inquests into the Ballymurphy deaths in 1972 returned open verdicts and the bereaved families subsequently pursued a long campaign for fresh probes to be held.

New inquests began in 2018, with the final oral evidence heard last March.