Retired General Sued Over Northern Ireland Murder

A retired senior Army officer is to be sued over the death of a Catholic man at the hands of loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.

Eugene "Paddy" Heenan was killed 42 years ago when a grenade was thrown at a minibus carrying him and 14 others to a building site in east Belfast.

Mary Heenan claims her husband died because of negligence and misfeasance in office. As a result she is now taking legal action against General Sir Frank Kitson and the MoD.

Gen Kitson, who is now in his late 80s, was in charge of military operations in Northern Ireland during the early 1970s. During the 80s he was to become Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces.

Court papers name him as a co-defendant in the legal action on grounds that he and others used agents knowing, or should have known, that they would take part in criminal actions.

They claim General Kitson is "liable personally for negligence and misfeasance in public office", because he was "reckless as to whether state agents would be involved in murder".

Former soldier Albert "Ginger" Baker received a life sentence for killing Mr Heenan and three others but later claimed to have links to British intelligence.

Baker was a member of the outlawed Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the time of Mr Heenan's murder and known to be a leading member of the so-called "Romper Room" gang.

Mrs Heenan's legal team say General Kitson's command and influence were such as to make him liable for the actions of Baker and others in the murder of Mr Heenan.

Solicitor Kevin Winters said:

"These are civil proceedings for damages but their core value is to obtain truth and accountability for our clients as to the role of the British Army and Frank Kitson in the counter-insurgency operation in the north of Ireland during the early part of the conflict and the use of loyalist paramilitary gangs to contain the republican-nationalist threat through terror, manipulation of the rule of law, infiltration and subversion all core to the Kitson military of doctrine endorsed by the British Army and the British government at the time."

This is the first time a retired senior soldier has been personally sued over actions during the Troubles. The law firm involved is likely to bring more cases after being instructed by other families who were the victims of UDA violence during the same period.