Former British soldier who killed man in Northern Ireland during the Troubles escapes jail sentence

A former British soldier found guilty of killing a Catholic man during the Troubles in Northern Ireland has escaped a jail sentence.

David Holden, 53, who was convicted of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie, was given a three-year suspended sentence instead.

He was the first veteran to be convicted of a historical offence since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict.

Aidan McAnespie was killed in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, in 1988, after walking through a border security checkpoint.

The 23-year-old had been on his way to a Gaelic football match when he was shot in the back.

Holden, who was 18 at the time and serving with the Grenadier Guards, denied the charge of gross negligent manslaughter during his non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court last year.

But trial judge Mr Justice O’Hara said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty.

Holden admitted firing the shot which killed Mr McAnespie, but said he discharged the weapon by accident because his hands were wet.

But Judge O’Hara said Holden had pointed a machine gun at Mr McAnespie and pulled the trigger, while assuming the gun was not cocked.

He told Belfast Crown Court: “That assumption should not have been made.”

He also said the former soldier had given a “deliberately false account” of what happened.

Speaking in court on Thursday, the judge said: “In his evidence during the trial, the defendant did not take the opportunity to express remorse.

“He could have done so, even in the context contesting the case. That would have been helpful.”

During the trial, Holden confirmed he had previously checked Mr McAnespie’s car registration and identified him as a “person of interest” to the security forces – a fact underlined by the prosecution.

In his closing submission, Crown counsel Ciaran Murphy QC said: “The one person he was aware of and in whom he had an interest was Aidan McAnespie.

“Of all the areas he could have struck with a ricochet or otherwise, he managed to strike the very target of his surveillance.”

Following today’s sentencing, Paul Young, national spokesman for the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, criticised the conviction of Holden.

Speaking after the sentencing, he said: “David Holden has been convicted of manslaughter, through gross negligence, so there’s clearly a disparity between terrorists and the security forces that served in Northern Ireland.

“(It’s) totally unacceptable and something that we’ve been saying all along, throughout the legacy process.

“It is a disgrace and should never have happened.”

To date, six former soldiers have been charged with historical offences in Northern Ireland but cases against four collapsed and one died while on trial.

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