Kingsmills Massacre: ‘After 47 years we have been failed by everyone’ says brother of man killed by IRA

Victims of one of the worst Troubles atrocities have been failed in their quest for justice by politicians, a legacy inquest and the justice system, a brother of one of those murdered says.
By Philip Bradfield
Published 5th Jan 2023, 21:40 GMT
Updated 5th Jan 2023, 21:56 GMT
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Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was one of ten Protestant textile workers shot by the IRA in the Kingsmill Massacre, was speaking out on the 47th anniversary of the sectarian atrocity, today.

Around 40 people attended a memorial service for the ten victims yesterday morning, on the remote lane in south Armagh where they were cut down by 11 heavily armed IRA men on 5 January 1976. The terrorists forced the ten Protestants out of their works minibus as they travelled home from work - chasing their sole Catholic colleague down the road before raking some 160 rounds into their innocent victims.

Nobody has ever been charged with the atrocity.

Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was one of 10 workmen shot dead in the Kingsmill massacre in 1976.Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was one of 10 workmen shot dead in the Kingsmill massacre in 1976.
Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was one of 10 workmen shot dead in the Kingsmill massacre in 1976.
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Most of the families of the deceased have cut ties with the ongoing legacy inquest, citing deep frustrations with its output. The hearings have still to be brought to a conclusion after almost seven years of taking evidence.

"We have been let down by the politicians, we have been let down by the coroner and we have been let down by the Justice system," Mr Worton told the News Letter.

"Politicians would never have allowed republican families to go without answers about how their loved ones were murdered in the way we have had to."

The coroner has refused to name any of the suspects in the inquest - even if deceased - on the grounds that it could breach human rights law.

The remembrance service for the Kingsmill Massacre at the memorial wall in south Armagh on 5 January 2023. Ten Protestant men were shot dead by the IRA republicans after their work van was stopped on 5 January 1976.The remembrance service for the Kingsmill Massacre at the memorial wall in south Armagh on 5 January 2023. Ten Protestant men were shot dead by the IRA republicans after their work van was stopped on 5 January 1976.
The remembrance service for the Kingsmill Massacre at the memorial wall in south Armagh on 5 January 2023. Ten Protestant men were shot dead by the IRA republicans after their work van was stopped on 5 January 1976.
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"The coroner has withheld names of suspects in the inquest. And obviously we have been let down by the justice system - I don't believe they are even worried about the Kingsmills mass murder."

He notes the £200m Saville Inquiry for the Bloody Sunday families, and the related prosecution of Soldier F; 13 civilians were shot by the army in Londonderry four years before Kingsmills.

"That is what I am saying. Nobody wants to rock the boat in south Armagh whereas the coroner and prosecutors and justice system can go after the security forces easily."

The 10 men killed at Kingsmills were John Bryans, Robert Chambers, Reginald Chapman, Walter Chapman, Robert Freeburn, Joseph Lemmon, John McConville, James McWhirter, Robert Samuel Walker and Kenneth Worton.