Tri-Service

Reports: MoD "Cold Calls" Paratroopers Over Ballymurphy

Reports: MoD "Cold Calls" Paras Over Ballymurphy

Dozens of former soldiers have received ‘Cold Call’ letters from the Ministry of Defence asking them for information about a shooting in Ballymurphy in 1971, according to a national newspaper.

The Daily Mail reports that at least two former paratroopers involved in a police probe into Bloody Sunday also face investigation into the incident, which took place six months earlier, during the Troubles.

An MoD spokesman said:

"It is MoD policy to co-operate fully with all judicial processes in the UK and a number of former soldiers have been written to seeking their assistance with PSNI’s Bloody Sunday criminal investigation and the Ballymurphy inquest."

"It would not be appropriate to comment further."

The letters said the deaths of at least 10 civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, are being re-examined, according to the newspaper. It quoted a former paratrooper as saying:

"Every soldier who served in Northern Ireland will be looking over their shoulders. This comes down to ambulance-chasing lawyers looking for a quick buck.

"This smacks to me of the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] on a witch-hunt."

"They should be ashamed of themselves for dragging this up. The motive is the families seeking compensation and nothing to do with justice. In a combat situation it is to be killed or kill."

Another is reported to have said:

"It is disgusting and very worrying. The way this has been done “blind” and without warning has upset everyone. We think there is much more to it than meets the eye."

The relatives of those killed in Ballymurphy, including a 45-year-old mother of eight and a local Catholic priest, have long fought for an inquiry into their deaths.