McAnespie family determined to see justice for Aidan

A BROTHER of the keen gaelic footballer shot dead by a British soldier in Aughnacloy over 30 years ago has said the family is determined that their elderly father will finally see justice for his son.

Aidan McAnespie was killed just moments after passing the border checkpoint at Aughnacloy in 1988 on his way to playing for Aghaloo at the nearby GAA grounds.

Former Grenadier Guardsman, David Jonathan Holden, is due to stand trial for the killing.

Now, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has said that they are continuing with the prosecution of the soldier. The decision came as the PPS’s decision to halt the trials of Soldier F and Soldier B accused of murdering three men in Derry on Bloody Sunday caused outrage.

Vincent McAnespie, a brother of Aidan’s, said his family was deeply committed to get the full truth about what happened for their father, John, and late sister, Eilish.

“My father is 86 now and none of us are getting any younger and we would like to see justice and truth for him and all the family members who are still around,” he said.

“Eilish, who fought the campaign for so long has passed away and my mother as well. A prosecution is something that we want to see when my father and everyone else is still alive.

“It would mean a lot for the whole family and indeed the whole community for the truth to come out.

“That is what we’re after and we have been waiting since last year for the news that our prosecution would go ahead and you’d wonder what the reason is for everything being delayed.”

30th Anniversary

On the 30th anniversary of the murder in 2018, John McAnespie, spoke about the importance for the family of seeing the truth come out about his son’s murder.

The decision to go ahead with the prosecution and that of Dennis Hutchings in relation to the attempted murder of John Pat Cunningham, who was shot dead by the British army near Eglish in 1974, has been welcomed.

But there has also been outrage at the halting of other key prosecutions, including those relating to Bloody Sunday in 1972 and the Ballymurphy shootings in 1971.

“We have always been hopeful that this case would go ahead. But what has happened to the other families at Ballymurphy, Bloody Sunday and so many other families is a real blow too and shows that anything is possible,” Vincent McAnespie added.

“You could find your stomach turning when those families were told that the prosecutions would not be going ahead.

“Some of those families have fought long campaigns and the decision to stop the prosecutions is a kick in the teeth for them.

“We feel so saddened by that outcome, but hopeful that those families will get some avenue through the legal system to fight those decisions and continue to seek truth and justice.”

Solicitor Darragh Mackin, of Phoenix Law, said the decision “puts a cart and horses through the British government theory that the legacy cases currently before the courts are vexatious”.

“It is clear that when the evidence requires it, the prosecution should and must be brought,” he said.