Courts / Monaghan / Report

Family of UDR man murdered by IRA granted access to court file

Summary

The President of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, granted an application by Jim Elliott, acting for the family of Corporal James Elliott, to access the Special Criminal Court file from a 1972 trial. The order, issued at the sentence stage of the underlying 1972 proceedings, directs that the Elliott family's lawyers receive the original file and a copy within seven days. The 1972 trial involved Brendan Finnegan and Patrick Lynch, who were convicted of conspiring to commit an explosion and possessing explosives. Finnegan was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, while Lynch received a 15-month sentence. The family alleges these convictions are linked to the 1972 kidnapping and murder of their father, a part-time Ulster Defence Regiment corporal, by the Provisional IRA. Although other charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, were reportedly dropped, the family has never been informed of the trial until 2005. The court found that providing access to the file supports the legacy process and commitments under the Good Friday Agreement. The application was opposed by no party; the Courts Service, the DPP, the Garda Commissioner, and the Minister for Justice did not object. The judge described the murder as horrendous and ruled that making the file available was in the interests of justice. The matter was not adjourned; the order was finalised with specific directions for file delivery.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Family of UDR man murdered by IRA granted access to court file. Charges or matters: conspiring to commit an explosion; possessing explosives. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted

When:

• July 1972 Incident
• April 1972 Other
• 2022-11-15 Publication

Why: The President granted the order after he agreed with the family's submissions that giving victims information about their loss in order to support healing is an important part of the Trouble's Legacy work. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report