by David Holden, 53, shot dead 23-year-old Aidan McAnespie in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, in 1988. He was found guilty of manslaughter in November last year.
A former British soldier found guilty of killing a Catholic man during the Troubles in Northern Ireland has escaped a jail sentence.
David Holden, 53, who was convicted of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie, was given a three-year suspended sentence instead.
He was the first veteran to be convicted of a historical offence since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict.
Aidan McAnespie was killed in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, in 1988, after walking through a border security checkpoint.
The 23-year-old had been on his way to a Gaelic football match when he was shot in the back.
Holden, who was 18 at the time and serving with the Grenadier Guards, denied the charge of gross negligent manslaughter during his non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court last year.
But trial judge Mr Justice O’Hara said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty.
‘A dishonest explanation’
Holden admitted firing the shot which killed Mr McAnespie, but said he discharged the weapon by accident because his hands were wet.
But Judge O’Hara said Holden had pointed a machine gun at Mr McAnespie and pulled the trigger, while assuming the gun was not cocked.
He told Belfast Crown Court: “That assumption should not have been made.”
He also said the former soldier had given a “deliberately false account” of what happened.
Speaking during the sentencing hearing on Thursday, the judge said: “In his evidence during the trial, the defendant did not take the opportunity to express remorse.
“He could have done so, even in the context of contesting the case. That would have been helpful.”
The judge added: “The defendant gave a dishonest explanation to the police and then to the court, to some limited degree that is an aggravating feature.”
During the trial, Holden confirmed he had previously checked Mr McAnespie’s car registration and identified him as a “person of interest” to the security forces – a fact underlined by the prosecution.
In his closing submission, Crown counsel Ciaran Murphy QC said: “The one person he was aware of and in whom he had an interest was Aidan McAnespie.
“Of all the areas he could have struck with a ricochet or otherwise, he managed to strike the very target of his surveillance.”
‘We were looking for truth and justice’
Following today’s sentencing, members of the McAnespie family made a statement outside court.
Sean McAnespie, the brother of Aidan, said: “The whole talk was all about ‘poor him’.
“He (Holden) had a chance at the start of this trial to come out and tell the truth and to admit to what he done. He dragged us through the courts for years. We lost our father and sister in the duration of that.
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“We weren’t looking for a pound of flesh. We were just looking for truth and justice.
“We would have liked to see him get some sort of sentence, but it wasn’t the be-all-and-end-all. As long as he was found guilty, that was the main thing.”
Brian Gormley, a cousin of Mr McAnespie, added: “The most disappointing thing for us is that John, father of Aidan McAnespie, was there at the very start. The most important thing he wanted was to hear the truth.
“David Holden had ample opportunities in the court case to give an honest version of events of what happened on that day. He didn’t take that opportunity.
“Obviously, we are still extremely sad. We miss Aidan every day, but this will give some solace to the family.”
‘This should never have happened’
Paul Young, national spokesman for the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, criticised the sentence and conviction of Holden.
Speaking after the sentencing, he said: “We believe that the sentence today was extremely harsh, considering the passage of time and what David Holden has had to go through over the last number of years.
“When you compare this to the Good Friday Agreement and the deals that were struck about terrorists, that they would never serve more than two years if they were convicted of any legacy offence.
“Now we have David Holden convicted of manslaughter, through gross negligence, so there’s clearly a disparity between terrorists and the security forces that served in Northern Ireland.
“(It’s) totally unacceptable and something that we’ve been saying all along, throughout the legacy process.
“It is a disgrace and should never have happened.”
The trial proceeded amid continuing controversy over government plans to deal with Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposals provide an effective amnesty for those suspected of killings during the conflict, if they agree to co-operate with a new body, known as the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
The Bill would also prohibit future civil cases and inquests related to Troubles’ crimes.
To date, six former soldiers have been charged with historical offences in Northern Ireland but cases against four collapsed and one died while on trial.
