An SAS veteran’s mental health has collapsed after he was threatened with prison for refusing to appear at an IRA death squad investigation, it emerged last night.
The former soldier, who can only be identified as Private F, was found guilty of contempt of court after he said he was too ill to be questioned about the shooting of the three IRA men in an SAS ambush in 1991.
He was initially ordered to spend six months behind bars, but last week – after a public outcry – his prison sentence was overturned.
Instead, judges imposed a £5,000 fine. His lawyer Philip Barden last night told the Ministry of Defense that the legal battle had taken its toll.
“His poor health is a result of post-traumatic stress disorder.” [PTSD]“It has deteriorated significantly as a result of this legal process,” he said.
Three gunmen were on their way to kill a member of the security forces when SAS soldiers opened fire in the village of Kuag. Pictured: Scene of SAS shooting of three IRA men in Coagh Co Tyrone
Soldier F, who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since 2002, was called to give his account of the SAS operation in Co Tyrone in June 1991 to the coroner in Belfast. Pictured: Archive photo of British Special Forces
Soldier F, who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since 2002, was called to give his account of the SAS operation in Co Tyrone in June 1991 to the coroner in Belfast.
Three gunmen were on their way to kill a member of the security forces when SAS soldiers opened fire in the village of Kuag.
He gave a witness statement to the inquest into the dead, including Tony Dorries, 21, a cousin of Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michael O’Neill, and agreed to answer written questions but refused to give oral evidence due to his ill health.
Two leading psychiatrists agreed that he was not qualified to testify in person.
