No justice for Derry families after four decades

Walking towards the Bogside a plaque is fixed to a house on Creggan Street.  It honours two local teenagers who were ‘murdered by the British Army’ on Easter Sunday 1981.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of those young men whose lives were cruelly cut short; 19-year-old Gary English and 18-year-old Jim Brown.

A short distance down the road, past St.Eugene’s Cathedral, another plaque is inscribed with the name of IRA Volunteer Charles English.  He died at the age of 21 in August 1985.

Mickey English, father of Gary and Charles, still lives in the family home in the heart of the Bogside.  “They were as different as chalk and cheese,” he says of his sons.  “Gary was always well dressed; he wouldn’t leave the house without a tie.

“Gary took after his da’.  He was a very good footballer and we would have gone to Templemore Sports Complex to play indoor together.

“Charles was a brilliant footballer but his interests lay elsewhere and he was influenced by the social environment he found himself in.”

As a proud republican and Sinn Féin chairman in the 1970s, Mickey’s family was marked.  House raids were commonplace and his children were often searched on their way to school.

Gary and Jim’s deaths took place against the backdrop of the H-Blocks hunger strike.  Bobby Sands had only weeks to live and the city of Derry had already suffered shocking incidents.

On April 7, census collector and mother-of-one, Joanne Mathers, had been shot dead by the IRA in the Waterside.

And 15-year-old Paul Whitters was on life support having been shot in the head by an RUC constable with a plastic bullet on April 15.  He died 10 days later.

‘AGENDA’

Sitting in an armchair by the window with the City Walls in view, Mickey is in a reflective mood on his son’s 40th anniversary.

Photos decorating the walls tell their own story.  Children, grand-children and great grand-children given pride of place.

Straight away Mickey is keen to acknowledge that two young men died on that fateful Spring day in ‘81. 

It was unfair, he says, that Jim Brown’s death was ‘overshadowed’ by the controversy surrounding his son’s.

Mickey says he has come to terms with Gary’s death but will ‘never, ever’ accept the manner in which his family was treated by the justice system.

“When I go to bed at night I’m in the middle of the courthouse and I’m reliving every minute of it.

“Thinking of the evidence people were giving as fact and I’m actually acting as an advocate and I’m challenging statements.

“It’s as if this is all a dream to me, even to this day.”

He added: “What I came to realise is the whole agenda was set by the state.  It wasn’t the families.

“Because of that Jim Brown’s death became inconsequential because the whole court case revolved around the death of my son Gary.  And it was the same at the inquest.

“I came to realise, the Brown family must’ve been devastated, because they went to court looking to hear things about their son and he was only mentioned in passing.

“It was all about Gary.  The reason for that was because his death was so controversial and the state, British Army and court system had so much to hide that they had to make it about Gary’s death.

“It was the only way that they could bury the truth and they used the court system to do it.”

‘RESPONSIBILITY’

Just after 6.45pm on April 19, 1981 two British Army Land Rovers exited Rosemount RUC barracks in Derry.

The two armoured vehicles containing soldiers of the Royal Anglian Regiment drove down Creggan Hill at speed towards the junction with Creggan Street, Marlboro Terrace and Infirmary Rd where a crowd had gathered.

Despite having been ordered by radio to stop and block Infirmary Road as part of a pincer movement to trap rioters the driver continued through the junction at speed ploughing into a fleeing crowd in Creggan Street.

Jim and Gary were struck by the lead Land Rover.  Jim was said to have died instantly.

Eyewitnesses testified that the British Army vehicle had driven at speed down Creggan Hill before ‘ploughing’ into a crowd.

They say that as the military vehicle reversed back up the hill it ran over the heavily injured body of Gary English causing devastating crush injuries.

Speaking of the moment he had to identify his son’s body at the city morgue, Mickey says: “There were no marks on his face.  He looked like he was sleeping.  He used to have a curl in his fringe.

“I put my hand on his hair, to tidy it back a bit.  Then I told the police officer, ‘that’s my son’.

“After that, I just desperately wanted to get home. I didn’t know what was going to happen over the next few hours.

“It must have been around 2 o’clock in the morning by then. I knew I had to shoulder responsibility for everything that was about to happen.”

Two British soldiers were subsequently charged, one with ‘reckless driving’ and the other of ‘aiding and abetting’ the offence.  They were found not guilty after seven days of what Mr English describes as a deeply ‘flawed’ trial.

The possibility that soldiers had reversed back over Gary was set aside by the judge because a pathologist said he had died from a ruptured aorta which was the result of the initial impact and not crushing injuries.

However, at an Inquest in May 1983 a different pathology expert contended that the same injury was caused by a Land Rover reversing over his body, which was consistent with other cases he had seen.

Mr English argues that key pieces of evidence were overlooked, and claims unscrutinised during both hearings, which prove that his son’s injuries were caused by ‘crushing’.

JUSTICE

He is disillusioned and angry about how both the trial and Inquest were handled and believes that if re-examined the soldiers would face re-trial on more serious charges.

Throughout the years the Pat Finucane Centre has supported the family in their quest for justice.

In 2014 the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) provided the family with a report into the circumstances of Charles’ death.

The correspondence states that there was no family report into Gary’s death, and given the pressures on the policing budget, it was not possible to advise if and when a review would be completed.

The HET ceased operations in December 2014, with cases transferring to the newly established Legacy Investigations Branch (LIB) within the PSNI.

To rub additional salt in the family’s already raw wounds, when the case was revisited by the LIB in 2016 a document sent to the family referred to the death of a ‘Constable Gary English’.

It caused great distress to the family and is interpreted as a deliberate attempt to cause hurt and demonstrate contempt.

The HET report states that ‘a thorough investigation was undertaken’ and transcripts ‘reflect a fair trial with an unbiased summing up’.

That experience perpetuated the family’s grief and distrust of the judicial system. 

Mr English says: “It’s quite plain to see that justice is blind.

“In Greek philosophy they discuss the concept of justice, Plato’s adaptation was that justice is not a moral or religious consideration.

“Justice is a political consideration, because justice is and always will be a part of the structures of state.  To protect the state at all levels, not, as thought, to protect the individual.”

Having sought the advice of legal professionals he accepts that prosecutions are unlikely as the Public Prosecution Service insists that new evidence is needed before a case can be reviewed.

But he points to evidence in the original post-mortem examination of two damages to the aorta which would be consistent with the vehicle reversing and crushing Gary – a point that was not properly examined during the Inquest.

In a statement to the Derry News, the PSNI does however say that the case remains ‘open’. 

A spokesperson says: “The case into the deaths of both Gary English and Jim Brown in April 1981 is open and remains within the caseload of Legacy Investigation Branch for future review.”

Photo: The statue of justice which sits atop Derry Courthouse. The justice figure has a blindfold across her eyes to reflect Mr English's belief that 'justice is blind'.  Donal Dunn took the original photograph for Towards Understanding and Healing publication, 200 Words and One Picture.  The blindfold was added by the designer as suggested by Mickey.