SAS unit chief denies shoot-to-kill policy

The soldier in charge of an SAS unit that shot two IRA men dead has denied any shoot-to-kill policy was in place in the North.

Martin McCaughey, 23, and Dessie Grew, 37, died in a hail of bullets near farm outbuildings that soldiers had been watching in Co Armagh because they contained a vehicle they believed could be used in terrorism, Soldier K said.

An inquest into the October 1990 killings was held today in Belfast. Soldier K said troops opened fire only if life was endangered.

“My understanding of what some people might think a shoot-to-kill policy is is that personnel, military personnel, set out to go on to the ground with the specific objective of shooting to kill terrorists at any opportunity when they see them.

“That is not my policy, it was not the policy of the armed forces in Northern Ireland.”

Lawyer for the families Karen Quinlivan put it to the soldier, officer commanding in charge of special forces in Northern Ireland from 1989 to 1991, that the attack had appeared like an ambush and highlighted advice from the then head of the Army in Northern Ireland, John Waters, comparing operations generally to a tiger hunt and killing or capturing.

“All the training that I have done is that the requirement for caution is always emphasised and the use of lethal force is a last resort,” Soldier K said.

“No-one likes using lethal force.”

He said killing terrorists was not his objective.

“The ultimate objective was to restore the province to the situation where we are now, which is a peaceful situation.”

The soldier said his men did not deliberately withhold information from police investigators after the killing but may not have volunteered it unless asked for it.

Informal notes of verbal briefings may have been taken but the “tempo” of activity in Northern Ireland at the time limited what instructions could be put down in writing.

Soldiers on the ground were expected to be able to work individually and as a team and adapt to changing situations.