SAS soldiers involved in Coagh shooting that killed three IRA men referred to prosecution service

Mr Justice Humphreys, presiding coroner for Northern Ireland, also referred two soldiers who destroyed a video of the Coagh shooting.

Peter Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally were intercepted in a stolen car by soldiers who suspected they intended to murder a member of the security forces on June 3 1991.

All three were shot dead in a hail of gunfire.

Their inquest was told that up to 150 rounds were fired.

Mr Justice Humphreys provisionally ruled last month he was satisfied the use of force was “reasonable” as the soldiers had an honest belief that it was necessary in order to prevent loss of life.

However, the coroner also concluded that the military operation was not planned in a manner which minimised to the greatest extent possible the need for recourse to lethal force.

Now the coroner has written to Northern Ireland’s director of public prosecutions Stephen Herron, just hours before new arrangements to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles become operational.

In order for any investigation into the soldiers’ actions to be launched, it would have to be referred to the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

In his letter, Mr Justice Humphreys said: “I have carefully considered the submissions of both the next of kin and the former military witnesses and have come to the view that I am required to write to you under the terms of s.35(3) on the basis that criminal offences may have been committed in relation to the planning of the operation which led to those deaths.

“In this regard, I consider that I am required to refer the conduct of Soldiers M, N, E and F to your office.

“I have also decided to exercise my discretion and to refer the conduct of Soldiers E and U to your office in respect of the destruction of a video recording of the subject incident.”

Padraig O Muirigh, solicitor for the Ryan and Doris families, welcomed the coroner’s decision.

He said: “The Ryan and Doris families have always maintained that the military were operating a shoot-to-kill policy at this time and effectively set up a kill zone in Coagh.”

The coroner has formally closed the inquest and made his findings final.

He found that the three men who were shot were members of the East Tyrone brigade of IRA and were on “active service” when they died.

Regarding the SAS operation, he ruled: “This operation was not planned in such a way as to minimise the need to have recourse to the use of lethal force.

“Rather, the plan was conceived in a manner which meant the use of lethal force was highly likely if not, in fact, inevitable.”

He was also highly critical of actions by soldiers to destroy a video of the events from a surveillance location.

He said: “There could scarcely have been more probative and significant evidence of the events which unfolded at Coagh than a video taken from close range showing the arrival of the vehicle and the engagement of the soldiers with its occupants.

“If this had been available, it would have rendered the task of the inquest on many of the issues straightforward.”

He said the soldiers who gave evidence to the inquest about the destruction of the video had “demonstrated a clear and unequivocal willingness to subvert the rule of law”.