1 year ago
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A former soldier has been given a suspended sentence for killing a man at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago.
David Jonathan Holden, 53, was sentenced to three years at Belfast crown court, but the judge, Mr Justice O’Hara, suspended the term for three years.
Holden was found guilty last year of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie, who was killed in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, moments after walking through a border security checkpoint in February 1988.
Holden is the first former member of the armed forces to be convicted of a historical offence in Northern Ireland since the peace agreement.
McAnespie was on his way to a Gaelic Athletic Association club when he was shot in the back. Holden admitted firing the shot that killed the 23-year-old, but had said he fired his gun by accident because his hands were wet.
However, at a trial last year, O’Hara said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Holden was guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
In court on Thursday, the judge highlighted five points about the case: Holden was 18 when the killing occurred; he had been convicted of manslaughter and did not intend to kill; he was grossly negligent in wrongly assuming the gun was not cocked; the fact that it was cocked and ready to fire was the fault of others; and he could not know from looking at the firearm whether it was cocked.
O’Hara 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.”
The judge added: “The defendant gave a dishonest explanation to the police and then to the court, to some limited degree that is an aggravating feature.”
O’Hara drew attention to victim impact statements given by McAnespie’s family to the court.
He said: “Aidan was the youngest of the six McAnespie children. The statements described the devastating impact the killings had on the whole extended family, how it changed their lives and how hugely challenging it has been over decades. I have no doubt this was made worse by the family’s sense of injustice that Mr Holden was not brought to trial at the time.
“This is something the family shares with far too many other families in our society who have not seen anyone held to account for all manner of killings, bombings and shootings. Included in the statements is a haunting description of Mrs McAnespie walking from her home every night past the army checkpoint to the point where her son was killed in tears saying the rosary.”
“When I consider the sentence I bear in mind everything which is put before me by counsel and the McAnespie family,” the judge added.
Holden is a former Grenadier Guardsman from England, whose address in court documents was given as care of an address in Belfast.
The case was heard in a Diplock format without a jury sitting, with supporters of Holden gathered outside the court each day the trial sat.
Members of McAnespie’s family were in court for the sentencing hearing.
A representative of the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, an organisation that campaigns against the prosecution of those who served in the region, described the sentence as “extremely harsh”.
Paul Young said: “We believe that the sentence today was extremely harsh, considering the passage of time and what David Holden has had to go through over the last number of years.”
The trial proceeded amid continuing controversy over UK government plans to deal with Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (legacy and reconciliation) bill proposals provide an effective amnesty for those suspected of killings during the conflict, if they agree to cooperate with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, a new body that would be established under the proposed legislation.
The bill would also prohibit future civil cases and inquests related to crimes committed during the Troubles.
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