Fears inquest into death of Derry man Patrick Duffy shot dead by SAS may never go ahead

The inquest into the death of a Derry man shot dead by the SAS in November 1978 may never be heard due to what counsel for the family described as 'the morally corrupt and unjust' Legacy Bill being suggested by the British Government.

Stephen Toal KC representing the family of Patrick Duffy from the Brandywell area who was shot dead in Maureen Avenue in Derry on November 24 1978 was speaking at a preliminary hearing in the new inquest ordered by the then Attorney General John Larkin in 2019.

Counsel for the Ministry of Defence, Martin Wolfe KC, told the hearing that there were 'limited resources' and the MOD had to service 12 legacy inquests between now and April next year.

He said there were two employees who handled sensive materials that were to be disclosed and as such 'it was not feasible to progress sensitive disclosure' as well as deal with this hearing.

He said this being so the process of examining sensitive information in this case would not be in a position to start until April 2023.

The Coroner Judge Fiona Bagnall asked how long that process would take and was told 'months.'

Mr Wolfe said one problem was that much of the material was on microfiche and was not catalogued.

Mr Toal representing the Duffy family said they had only just received the letter outlining this problem and it felt 'a lot like an ambush which is quite ironic considering the way the deceased died.'

The barrister said that the MOD had 60,000 civilian employees and a budget of £40 billion yet they only have two employees dealing with this material.

He said that some of the Duffy family were already deceased and added they were' extremely concerned the inquest will never go ahead and if it does no one will be alive to see it. '

The barrister said that this would be' wrong ' and the court should not permit it.

Ian Skelt KC for the Coroner said there was a possibility that the inquest would not happen due to the government imposed' guillotine ' on legacy issues.

However, he suggested to the Coroner that a' modular approach ' could be adopted which would mean starting the inquest with some evidence then adjourning it.

He suggested that the interested parties should make short representations on this idea.

The hearing was also told that the MOD had identified one soldier known as Soldier A and are currently engaging with him to try and identify other soldiers.

The next preliminary hearing will take place on January 12.