Families of IRA victims in England told new Troubles bill could revive path to justice | Northern Ireland
Families of more than 70 people killed by the IRA and other paramilitary forces in unsolved attacks on British soil can once again hope for justice with the new regulation. Northern Ireland Issues BillThe UK government claimed.
As MPs in the House of Commons prepared to debate the bill for the first time on Tuesday, the Home Office said 77 unsolved murders remained in British towns and cities since the Troubles, including 39 British armed forces personnel. It was stated that more than 1000 people were injured in the attacks.
The focus of the debate on the bill so far has largely been on possible impact about former and current British service personnel who could face legal action over events that occurred decades ago.
But the UK government has stressed that the new bill, if passed, would open up the possibility of justice – or at least answers – for families who lost loved ones half a century ago.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said: “The last government’s Heritage Act halted police investigations and offered immunity to terrorists. This has left many families feeling like they have nowhere to go to continue their search for justice or simply get answers about what happened to their loved ones.”
Jarvis, a former member of the Parachute Regiment who served in Northern Ireland, continued: “This government’s legislation will fix that. It ensures that no terrorist can claim immunity from prosecution, while ensuring there is an effective and fully independent heritage commission to carry out investigations that families across the UK can trust.”
The UK government says the measures in the new Troubles bill, if passed, would increase the powers of the reformed former commission to allow it to conduct full police investigations in cases where there is evidence of guilt. The immunity plan will also be canceled.
Home Office, unresolved attacks related to the Troubles on British soil, 1974 M62 passenger bus bombing In the Manchester bombing in 1996, in which more than 200 people were injured, 12 people died and 38 people were injured.
Graeme Downie, MP for Dunfermline and Dollar, whose friend Tim Parry was murdered aged 12 Warrington bomb attacks in 1993He said families who lost loved ones should still have a chance to get answers.
“I don’t know what happened that day in Warrington in 1993, other than the murder of someone I was friends with and played football with every week. I don’t know exactly who did it. There was talk of a fake IRA unit but no answers.”
“I’m not out for revenge and I don’t think the Parry family ever expects to get justice, but I want answers and so do hundreds of others.”
He said it would be helpful if the new legislation helped just one family.
Mo Norton, sister of bomber Terence Griffin, 24, killed in the M62 coach bombing, said: “He served two tours in Northern Ireland and it was the fighting that took him not to the battlefield but to a bus returning from leave.
“He was proud of his service but never boastful. He had plans for the future, he had hopes. That morning everything changed. 12 lives were lost, including children. Our family was shattered. There was no warning, no chance to say goodbye. Just silence and then years of unanswered questions.”
“I need to know that Terence’s death has been fully investigated, I don’t think it has been properly investigated in the past.”
